Last Week’s Best Reads

I’m back with another installment where I share with you my favorite blog posts in the past week:

Have You Been To The Church Of “O”?

Are you a Christian woman or man who is intently following Oprah Winfrey’s series on The New Earth or even A Course in Miracles? Well, stop!

You’re listening to a woman who “took God out of the box” and thinks that God is “jealous of me” in her own words! Instead of finding out for herself what that word ‘jealous’ means, she goes on a search for something “more than doctrine” then lands herself right smack into the occult teachings of people like Marianne Williamson and Eckhart Tolle.

She’s just full of herself, really. As my wife pointed out, if she could interpret “jealous God” as “God is jealous of me”, we all know just who she is centered on! And now, she’s misleading millions down a slippery slope that ends in a plunge into the bottomless pit called HELL.

Christians, it’s time to open our eyes, turn off the TV, and pray! If you find yourself following the series and even believing in some of that heresy, pray! If you have friends hanging on to every word coming out of the lips of those God-less heretics, pray for them!

In fact, pray for Oprah too, that the Holy Spirit moves in her to see the Truth. Imagine what a great show it’d be if she repented and chased those heretics out of the studio!

Additional reading: “New Age Religion Or Rebellion?” (HT: Channel of Healing)

HT: Real Christianity for the video.

God’s Answer

I love this:

I asked God to take away my pride. God said “No”. It is not for me to take away, but for you to give it up.

I asked God to make my handicapped child whole. God said “No”. Her spirit was whole, her body was only temporary.

I asked God to grant me patience. God said “No”. Patience is a by-product of tribulations; it isn’t granted, it is earned.

I asked God to give me happiness. God said “No”. I give you blessings, happiness is up to you.

I asked God to spare me pain. God said “No”. Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me.

I asked God to make my spirit grow. God said “No”. You must grow on your own, but I will prune you to make you fruitful.

I asked for all things that I might enjoy life. God said “No”. I will give you life so that you may enjoy all things.

I ask God to help me LOVE others, as much as he loves me. God said… Ahhhh, finally you have the idea!

HT: Channel of Healing.

I See Jesus… In A ChEETO

I despair… truly I do.

“Choice” quote:

I don’t think the heavenly choir actually started singing, but in my mind they did… one of the guys looked very calmly and said “his name shall be ‘cheesus’”

What?!

HT: A Little Leaven.

New Blogs I’m Reading

• I’m Speaking Truth: An Atlanta-based Christian blog exposing false teachers & their doctrinal assaults…
• A Lion Has Roared
• Versical’s Weblog

Everyone Did What Was Right In His Own Eyes

Mike Ratliff writes:

We live in an evil time. There are large numbers of “Christian” leaders who claim to be ministers of God, but prove by their words and actions to have thrown off the authority of God. They do what is right in their own eyes while claiming that they are only following the leading of the Holy Spirit. The fact that what they say or do is unbiblical seems to trouble very few. When some point out the truth to them, they claim that God has lead them to do what they do so it must be okay and those who protest are just legalistic.

Read more of this piece at Possessing The Treasure.

Life Without The Gospel — What Will It Be Like?

Pastor Wolfmueller writes:

Imagine life without the Gospel. For many people, even for many people that we know, this is their reality. What would such a life be like? How would we live, think, be? Without the Gospel we have only the law, only demands, rules, a raging conscience which is devouring us or which is caged and ignored. Without the Gospel there is no Jesus on the cross, no forgiveness of sin by His blood, no comfort in His Word. What is the result of such a void?

Read more of this piece at Extreme Theology.

4,000 American Soldiers Dead

In remembrance of the 4,000 brave men and women who sacrificed everything for us — and the two men who would continue this great tragedy, despite the cost to our soldiers, our military, and our nation.

Click on the picture to see it in its original size.

False Doctrine Kills: 11 Year Old Girl Whose Parents Chose Prayer Over Medical Treatment Dies

This is really heartbreaking to read.

Anyone who thinks that Christians support this sort of evil needs to read the novel “The Visitation” by charismatic author Frank Peretti, a former pastor who himself has been used by God to perform faith healings. By the way, people, Luke, who wrote almost 25% of the New Testament, WAS A DOCTOR!

Story: Parents Pick Prayer Over Doctor, Girl Dies - AOL News

Yes, we should trust in God to heal when we pray for healing. Yes, our God, the Living God, heals. Yet, God has also provided us with advances in medicine such that even illnesses that were incurable in the past are now treatable with just a shot or surgery. We should pray and believe that God will heal, but at the same time we need to do all we can to help the situation and let God do the rest. That is NOT not having faith, contrary to what some preach!

Imagine praying for a mate or a job but you sit at home and do nothing, thinking that the mate or job will drop into your lap. Any sane Christian would tell you that that’s preposterous! You do what you can — socialize more, send in your resumes and letters, and let God do the rest while you let Him lead you in His will.

So why do some Christians become so stiff-necked when it comes to healing?

Related: The Great “You Don’t Have Enough Faith” Lie. And the Great “Don’t Take Medicine or See Doctors” Lie

HT: Jesus Christology.

A Humorous Look At Christianity and Christians In General

I definitely don’t agree with some of the views expressed in this blog Stuff Christians Like, but there are quite a few gems in there, and it’s a pretty humorous read nonetheless.

Prodigal Jon, the author, explains the rationale behind the blog thus:

We do some things really well and we do some things less than really well. But when we pretend we’re perfect, people see right through it and won’t believe anything else we say. And that’s the point of this project. I want to be honest and upfront and hopefully a little funny about the issues the church and Christians struggle with sometimes. I want to say, “Whoa, whoa, please don’t judge me or God by Christian radio.” I want to admit the times we’ve dropped the ball on issues or ideas that people called to love their neighbor should have knocked out of the park. I want to blow up misconceptions and preconceptions about what it means to be a Christian.

Was This Your Experience Becoming A Christian?

Being a product of such altar calls, I am all the more wary and do all I can to warn against such emotional altar calls that is so prevalent in many modern churches nowadays. This altar call does nothing for anyone, and as someone who has gone through the up’s and down’s of such a “Christian life” myself, I want to warn those who became Christians this way to truly examine yourselves and see if you are indeed in the faith!

S. J. Walker at The Lion Has Roared has done a great podcast titled Emoti-Con Artists that so rightly addresses this issue. You can download the podcast (WMA) at his blog.

My favorite quote from the podcast:

Are we recruiting Special Forces, or cannon fodder for the enemy?

Ray Comfort Reviews Ben Stein’s “Expelled”

Though it’s not a Christian film, it does seem like Ray’s recommending it as a “must-see”. Read the review at Ray Comfort’s blog.

Have a great week ahead!

Shalom Aleichem.