As I mentioned in the previous article, we (Christians) seem to turn a blind eye to the difficult things in our faith and we don’t pay attention to what is going on within our faith family. I hope this article will explain and make clear my point.
I feel many of us Christians have become complacent. We may have been lulled into believing that all we need to do as Christians is to accept Christ, go to church once in awhile, tithe, and have compassion for the poor and weak. If so, we have salvation. Is that what scripture tells us? I read not. But that discussion is for another study.
Another way we have become complacent is that many of us have accepted our pastor’s decision to continually give us *milk as teachings and programs that make us feel good, entertain us, and satisfy our fleshly needs. * Hebrews 5:12, In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!
According to scripture we should be studying and living out His entire Word, including the more difficult teachings.
So believers, it is time to wake up. Stop blindly following the teachings of others and check things out for yourself. Get into the Word, study it so you will know when something is said “that just doesn’t seem right.” And if you know the Word then you can talk with others that believe in things that are not Biblical.
What am I talking about and why is it so important that we pay attention to what others are saying? I will tell you.
How many of you truly know who and what the NAR is and stands for? Did you know the major players in NAR claim direct revelation from God and many followers say that Jesus and angels visit them in person? Some of them declare that they have visited heaven many times and had conversations with Jesus as well as the Prophets and Apostles. Or that the NAR following pastors state they should take over the direction of all churches and that the secular government will also be taken over by Christians (NAR followers). Is the above information Biblical, sanctioned by Jesus, something Scripture tells us to strive for? I read not. However, people are falling in line with what is professed and blindly following and believing.
NAR/Word of Faith teachings declare, “you don’t need doctrinal distinctives or even denominations, as long as you all love Jesus and are kind to each other and the planet.”
What about the one world church that many “Christians” are praying for and working toward. Have you heard of this movement? Did you know that it falls under the guise of unity? Unity can’t be bad can it? Aren’t we supposed to be unified? Prominent people in the Christian faith are involved in this movement and the deception is being made in small increments with non threatening comments and actions such as;
James Robison (American televangelist and the founder and President of the Christian relief organization Life Outreach International) tells Pope Francis “In Christ we are all brothers.”
Evangelical mega pastor Rick Warren is on record embracing Roman Catholicism as a viable form of the historic orthodox Christian faith. In an in interview conducted by Roman Catholic apologist Raymond Arroyo, Warren refers to Rome’s current Pope Francis as “our new pope”.
The unity Warren is proposing fits perfectly in the New World Order paradigm of the Papacy and the United Nations. Ecumenism among Christians and across religions is one small part of a huge initiative towards a global government and global religion that satisfies them all. Source: Apprising Ministries http://apprising.org/2014/05/06/james-robison-to-pope-francis-in-christ-we-are-brothers/
In June of 2014 Pope Francis was the host of two special interfaith gatherings at the Vatican. It incorporated Jewish, Christian and Muslim prayers. (The Koran distinguishes itself from Christianity as it proclaims that Allah has no son: and it denies the crucifixion) source: Beginning and End website http://beginningandend.com/
A new video has just been released in which Pope Francis very clearly expresses his belief that all of the major religions are different paths to the same God. Source: Michael Snyder End of the American dream – Jan. 11, 2015.
https://www.youtube.com /watch?v=-6fftxwt34feature=youtu.be
In June, 2014 not only did Pope Francis hold ecumenical services in the Vatican where he prayed to the moon god of Islam, *Allah, he also held high level meetings with mega church pastor, Joel Osteen (false teacher) and U.S. Senator Mike Lee who was there to represent the Mormon Church. Source: https://www.raptureready.com
*(Proponents argue that “Allah” was the name of a Moon god in pre-Islamic Arabic mythology, the implication being that “Allah” as the term for God in Islam implies that “Muslims are worshipping a false god“).
Views of two of the most popular (to some in our culture) people in our culture
Quote from President Obama “that no matter…what religion you practice, you are equal in the eyes of God.”
Oprah states we are all under one god no matter what religion we believe in (paraphrasing).
And we have the World Council of Churches. What is the World Council of Churches?
The World Council of churches accepts the ordination of women, approves the ordination of practicing homosexuals, and tolerates an amazing variety of heretical beliefs. At a “Re-Imagining” Conference in Minneapolis in 1993, the deputy general secretary of the WCC, Mercy Oduyoye, taught that we all have “spirit mothers” who avenge us and that the spirits of the dead surround us “in the rustling of trees, in the groaning woods, in the crying grass, in the moaning rocks.” The same conference also featured Kwok Pui-Lan, a WCC member who defined salvation as “bringing out what is within you” and quoted the Gnostic gospels. Pui-Lan justified her use of Gnostic texts by stating that, since it was men who decided the canon of the Bible, she was not obliged to accept it.
Historically, the World Council of Churches has been led by those who hold to liberal theology and who promote “progressive” social policies (such as abortion) and leftist political agendas.
And the list could go on but I will stop here.
Then, we have pastors that have some of the largest churches in the United States and teach their messages to hundreds of thousands of people stating,
If I could, I would re-write the Bible because it is too hard for unbelievers to understand.
I do not sin.
You can have anything you want and if you don’t get it, it is because you don’t have enough faith.
For a fee a pastor’s school will teach you how to obtain the gifts of healing and prophecy.
Hell is only temporary.
The Trinity is not three spirits in one. The Trinity is three different separate spirits.
God speaks directly and audibly to certain pastors and tells them things not written in Scripture.
And one of our female pastors states;
“When we speak words of faith, power is discharged that will accomplish our desires. Through faith we can have health, wealth, success – anything we want!”
Why do I think these things are bad, against Scripture and things we should be concerned with and talk about? Because scripture tells me so!
A mega pastor stated; “‘Jesus loves me — this I know, for the Bible tells me so.’ This is a childish error. Evangelical Christianity has a big problem and that problem is a reliance on the Bible that is both unwarranted and unhelpful.” I do not agree. I believe in Scripture and rely on it’s teaching, even the things that are difficult for me to obey or carry out.
I speak up because of these Scriptures (and many others); Galatians chapter 1, 2 Cor. 6:14, 2 Peter 2:3, Matthew 24:4-5.
And as far as the one world church and the idea of unity for all religion, Scripture tells me not to be a part of that belief.
There are at least 28 verses in Scripture that state there is only one God. So should we be associating with and accepting other religions that believe in different God’s? 1 Corinthians 8:4-6 is pretty straight forward in saying there is only one God.
There is one more false teaching that I would like to bring up that I think is very important. It is what is called easy believism. Basically it means that people are being taught that to be saved all you have to do is say you believe/accept Jesus and have faith. To many repentance is not necessary, nor is a change of behavior or lifestyle. Obedience and works are optional. This belief is being taught in many popular mega churches and people are flocking in to be saved (falsely – and they will be the ones who are told, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers” Matthew 7:23).
There is a lot happening in the name of our faith and sadly not all of it is God’s truth. So I believe we must not turn a blind eye to what is happening in our faith. I pray you will not either.
Dennis
2/27/2017
Manos de Dios, Hands of God Ministries 