Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Exposing Word of Faith Prosperity Gospel:Justin Peters/SO4J-TV
Galatians 1:8
"But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!"
These false teachers will have to answer to God, let US be discerning and stay away from them!!!!!!!! James 3:1 "Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment."
Sunday, September 25, 2011
This Is Why All This Has Happened To Us
This Is Why All This Has Happened To Us
Source: http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2011/09/24/this-is-why-all-this-has-happened-to-us/
As I have said so often before, Christians who do not read the Old Testament are robbing themselves. They are also robbing God, since a full 77 per cent of the Christian Bible is made up of the Hebrew Scriptures. We do an extreme disservice to ourselves and others by being ignorant of such a large portion of our Bible.
In today’s reading I was blown away by one particular chapter: 2 Kings 17. It is a goldmine not only of historical but spiritual truths and principles. It has so much for today’s church. It is a pity so few believers today make use of this treasure house, and all the rest of the 39 OT books.
So let me provide a bit of quick background material here. After Solomon the Kingdom was divided. Jeroboam leads Israel (the northern kingdom with Samaria as its capital), while his son Rehoboam leads Judah (the southern kingdom with Jerusalem as its capital).
All the kings of the two kingdoms are covered in I and II Kings, while II Chronicles covers only the kings of Judah. The chapter we are looking at here describes the reign of Hoshea, the last of the kings of Israel (vv. 1-6), then explains why Israel went into exile (vv. 7-23). Then an interesting report about Samaria is found in vv. 24-41.
Verse 7 begins this way: “All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the LORD their God.” Christians are not deists; we believe God is actively involved in this world. When bad things happen on a big scale, it is always worth asking why these things might be.
True, we do not have prophets as Israel did in the OT to tell us exactly why various things are befalling us, but we can certainly gain some general principles by looking at what occurred to Israel. This text makes it clear that national calamity was directly tied up with sin and rebellion against God.
In these 15 verses we learn about all the horrible things the people did, even though God had delivered them from the bondage they were in back in Egypt. The aware Christian would do well not just to glide over these verses, but to ask God if there are some clear parallels with God’s people today.
We Christians have also been set free from the bondage of sin and self to follow God. But are we any better than ancient Israel? Read what Yahweh says about them: “They worshiped other gods and followed the practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced. The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right….”
The passage goes on to speak of this wretched idolatry in detail. We read over this and think, “Tsk, tsk, what a bunch of rebels those guys were.” But we never think for a moment that we are probably little different. We may be more sophisticated in our idolatry, but we are up to our ears in it nonetheless.
A.W. Pink reminds us that an idol is “anything which displaces God in my heart. It may be something which is quite harmless in itself, yet if it absorbs me, if it be given the first place in my affections and thoughts, it becomes an ‘idol’. It may be my business, a loved one, or my service for Christ. Any one or any thing which comes into competition with the Lord’s ruling me in a practical way, is an ‘idol’.”
So what is your idol, and mine? It would not hurt for all of us to stop whatever we are doing right now and get on our knees and ask God this question. I do not doubt for a moment that our evangelical Bible-believing churches today are just as full of idolaters as ancient Israel was back then.
The text continues, “They forsook all the commands of the LORD their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts, and they worshiped Baal. They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sought omens and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, arousing his anger.”
There are of course plenty of modern-day equivalents of these sins as well. Sacrificing children was one of the most despicable of all practices which the Canaanites did, yet incredibly the Israelites ended up doing this as well. Today we do exactly the same, but we use euphemisms for it, like “a woman’s right to choose” or some such thing.
The two abominations are one and the same, and I have tied these two sins together elsewhere:www.billmuehlenberg.com/2006/09/01/a-different-perspective-on-abortion/
And what about all the Christians today who see nothing wrong with astrology, tarot cards, fortune telling, various New Age practices, and the like? All this was soundly condemned back then, but we are still doing it today. One expects non-Christians to be into all this stuff, but it is scandalous just how many so-called Christians dabble in all this as well.
One of the most wrenching parts of this chapter comes in the end. There we read about how the King of Assyria brought in all kinds of peoples “and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites”. Verse 25 says this: “When they first lived there, they did not worship the LORD; so he sent lions among them and they killed some of the people.”
So the King was told about this and he “gave this order: ‘Have one of the priests you took captive from Samaria go back to live there and teach the people what the god of the land requires.’ So one of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria came to live in Bethel and taught them how to worship the LORD.”
The concluding verses are quite remarkable: “They would not listen, however, but persisted in their former practices. Even while these people were worshiping the LORD, they were serving their idols.” Wow, and how much does that sound like us today as well?
How many people are claiming to be followers of Christ yet persist in their former practices? How many folks name the name of Christ, and even tag along to church, yet have never renounced their former idols? How many think they can actually be a follower of Christ and at the same time still cling to their false gods and idols?
But we find this all over the place today. We have “churches” actually blessing abortion today. We have churches ordaining practicing homosexuals today. We have churches deeply involved with interfaith services where Muslims lead a church service and/or readings from a Koran occur. All this is perfectly described in the end of chapter 27.
I began by stating how vitally important that we Christians know our Old Testament, and know it well. I have stated before that reading a mere three chapters a day will get you through the Bible in a year. But there is a downside to all this as well.
The trouble is, Christians today can glibly read through these passages and not for a moment realise that they speak to us just as much today as they did to God’s people thousands of years ago. We can glide over these chapters without even seeing the slightest resemblance to our own situation today.
We may think that those guys were a pretty pathetic bunch, little realising that we are in so many ways exactly like them. So I do encourage every believer to get into the OT. But I also warn them: do not read it as simply a matter of ancient history only.
Read it as the living Word from the living God to the living church today. Learn its lessons and apply its truths. It has so very much to teach us. And if we refuse to read this gift to us, we will one day give an account for this. So read and be blessed. But also read and be challenged, convicted and persuaded when necessary.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Mega-Ministries
I never thought I would post a news video on my blog, I refrain from posting anything political unless it touches on Bible prophecy but this was SO on the money (pun intended) that I had to post. I see so many people defending these pulpit pimps online, people who profess to be Christians and yet they are deceived by these charlatans......OR don't take the time to read their Bibles to be discerning about what they are reading (that includes my own writings) or seeing on TV.
Everything on this video is correct and you should double check it against sites which expose them such as inplainsite.org's Televangelists' Lifestyles and pulpit-pimps.org. They are all false teachers who do not preach the Gospel and known by their fruits, so why do so many people still give them money? Probably because they are ignorant of the Scriptures and therefore can't tell a wolf when they see one!
Jesus said in John 14:6 “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. Osteen said on the Larry King show that Jesus is not the only way to Heaven. This is NOT preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, therefore he is a false teacher. We MUST be discerning enough and know our Scriptures in order to know what we are hearing is not Truth.
Paul said in Galatians 1:8 "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!"
2 Peter 2:1-
1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master... who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. 2 Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; 3 and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
I'm measuring every word against Scripture like the Bereans. 1 John 4:1-3
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.
I have been criticized for being judgmental in this regard. I'll take God's word over man's any day! The Bible does not say we cannot judge, how could we make decisions without judgment calls. The Bible simply tells us that in the manner in which we judge we will also be judged, therefore judge righteously (meaning measuring by God's right and just Word).
Don't assume just because someone mentions the name of Jesus or God that that He is speaking Truth, remember Satan quotes Scripture too. Jesus said:
Matthew 7:15-23
15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will know them by their fruits.
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’
Everything on this video is correct and you should double check it against sites which expose them such as inplainsite.org's Televangelists' Lifestyles and pulpit-pimps.org. They are all false teachers who do not preach the Gospel and known by their fruits, so why do so many people still give them money? Probably because they are ignorant of the Scriptures and therefore can't tell a wolf when they see one!
Jesus said in John 14:6 “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. Osteen said on the Larry King show that Jesus is not the only way to Heaven. This is NOT preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, therefore he is a false teacher. We MUST be discerning enough and know our Scriptures in order to know what we are hearing is not Truth.
Paul said in Galatians 1:8 "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!"
2 Peter 2:1-
1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master... who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. 2 Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; 3 and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
I'm measuring every word against Scripture like the Bereans. 1 John 4:1-3
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.
I have been criticized for being judgmental in this regard. I'll take God's word over man's any day! The Bible does not say we cannot judge, how could we make decisions without judgment calls. The Bible simply tells us that in the manner in which we judge we will also be judged, therefore judge righteously (meaning measuring by God's right and just Word).
Don't assume just because someone mentions the name of Jesus or God that that He is speaking Truth, remember Satan quotes Scripture too. Jesus said:
Matthew 7:15-23
15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will know them by their fruits.
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Can You Lose Your Salvation?
Salvation can never be lost!!!!!! If truly saved (and only God knows their heart for sure, so I continue to pray for some who say they are but do not live it) they won't suffer God's wrath. They may lose out on rewards in heaven, but they will not go to hell. Scripture's clear about that and I think all the Scripture has been quoted above.
A true Christian cannot bear to continue living in sin, but some will remain immature and in "milk" all their lives. Notice they are still saved, (below), since Paul refers to them as "brethren". They are carnal Christians ("fleshly")
1 Cor 3:1-3
1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, 3 for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?
In John 10 Jesus tells us:
7 So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. 11 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, 15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. 18 No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”
V. 25-29 (Jesus speaking to the Pharisees):
25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. 26 But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
In Ephesians 4:30 Paul said "and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, WHEREBY YE ARE SEALED UNTO THE DAY OF REDEMPTION." when you got saved you were sealed, so how do we grieve the spirit of God, we do this when we sin. You can not lose your salvation but you can grieve the Holy Spirit. What happens when we sin after we except Jesus Christ????? read Hebrews 12:1-11. Other Scripture concerning salvation is found in
Romans 8:9-17
1 John 5:10-12
Ephesians 2:8-9
Romans 6:1-14
NOTE: I personally keep ANY preacher on a short list and measure EVERY word against the word of God, which is what you did by posting here as well. ALWAYS go to the Word to verify and if that person/pastor/teacher is NOT teaching Truth, GET AWAY from them! I got out of a Church this year which I was uncomfortable in, then they invited a charlatan and it was sayonara for me!!!!!!!! Those of us who had discernment to leave are in a home fellowship now. Stay away from anyone who is teaching against God's Word. Paul HIMSELF said in Galatians 1:8 "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!" In the Greek accursed is "anathema" points to something having been offered to a false god, in other words, have nothing to do with it!!!!!!!
A true Christian cannot bear to continue living in sin, but some will remain immature and in "milk" all their lives. Notice they are still saved, (below), since Paul refers to them as "brethren". They are carnal Christians ("fleshly")
1 Cor 3:1-3
1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, 3 for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?
In John 10 Jesus tells us:
7 So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. 11 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, 15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. 18 No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”
V. 25-29 (Jesus speaking to the Pharisees):
25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. 26 But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
In Ephesians 4:30 Paul said "and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, WHEREBY YE ARE SEALED UNTO THE DAY OF REDEMPTION." when you got saved you were sealed, so how do we grieve the spirit of God, we do this when we sin. You can not lose your salvation but you can grieve the Holy Spirit. What happens when we sin after we except Jesus Christ????? read Hebrews 12:1-11. Other Scripture concerning salvation is found in
Romans 8:9-17
1 John 5:10-12
Ephesians 2:8-9
Romans 6:1-14
NOTE: I personally keep ANY preacher on a short list and measure EVERY word against the word of God, which is what you did by posting here as well. ALWAYS go to the Word to verify and if that person/pastor/teacher is NOT teaching Truth, GET AWAY from them! I got out of a Church this year which I was uncomfortable in, then they invited a charlatan and it was sayonara for me!!!!!!!! Those of us who had discernment to leave are in a home fellowship now. Stay away from anyone who is teaching against God's Word. Paul HIMSELF said in Galatians 1:8 "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!" In the Greek accursed is "anathema" points to something having been offered to a false god, in other words, have nothing to do with it!!!!!!!
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