Discernment

This edition of Crosstalk looked at the ramped up persecution in the West when it comes to biblical Christianity from within evangelicalism. Rick Warren’s chief apologist online, Richard Abanes, has publicly likened Ingrid and several colleagues to David Koresh and other cult leaders and claims that they are all marked by:

1. A deep seated ‘us vs. them’ mentality
2. Feelings of persecution
3. Paranoia
4. A kind of xenophobic response to any and all attempts to have a more tolerant/civil approach to various issues.

Ingrid Schlueter and Sarah Leslie (a member of the board of directors of Discernment Ministries and a member of the Discernment Research Group) discuss how and why this attitude has entered the church, others that are promoting it, and how a rejection of biblical eschatology within evangelicalism is helping New Age teachings and Christianity to merge.

Read the rest of this entry »

In this timely reminder, Anton Bosch gives us cause to pause and ask ourselves if our hearts are in the right place when we expose false teachers and their false teachings.

While I don’t consider my blog a full-fledged discernment ministry, I have called out several false teachers and their teachings so I am painfully aware that I need to be doing so in the right spirit.

Here’s an excerpt from the piece Watchman Or Gossip?:

Watchmen who warn about impending danger have an important role throughout the Bible (Ezekiel 3:17, Acts 20:28-31). BUT, there is a huge difference between a watchman and a gossip. A watchman takes no delight in reporting the threat, while the gossip enjoys telling and re-telling the juicy stories of sin and failure. These gossips are just like the godless Athenians who “spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing” (Acts 17:21). Some who style themselves as “defenders of the faith,” take extreme delight in rehearsing the latest error. I have seen the glint in their eye as they play the latest DVD or as they sit around the table seeking to tell of some greater error than the previous speaker. Some rush to the keyboard to publish the latest juicy morsel as quickly and as widely as possible.

Read the full post at Herescope.

HT: Herescope via DefCon.

By John MacArthur.

In its simplest definition, discernment is nothing more than the ability to decide between truth and error, right and wrong. Discernment is the process of making careful distinctions in our thinking about truth. In other words, the ability to think with discernment is synonymous with an ability to think biblically.

1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 teaches that it is the responsibility of every Christian to be discerning: “But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.” The apostle John issues a similar warning when he says, “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” (1 John 4:1).

According to the New Testament, discernment is not optional for the believer — it is required. The key to living an uncompromising life lies in one’s ability to exercise discernment in every area of his or her life. For example, failure to distinguish between truth and error leaves the Christian subject to all manner of false teaching. False teaching then leads to an unbiblical mindset, which results in unfruitful and disobedient living — a certain recipe for compromise.

Unfortunately, discernment is an area where most Christians stumble. They exhibit little ability to measure the things they are taught against the infallible standard of God’s Word, and they unwittingly engage in all kinds of unbiblical decision-making and behavior. In short, they are not armed to take a decidedly biblical stand against the onslaught of unbiblical thinking and attitudes that face them throughout their day.

Discernment intersects the Christian life at every point. And God’s Word provides us with the needed discernment about every issue of life. According to Peter, God “has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3). You see, it is through the “true knowledge of Him,” that we have been given everything we need to live a Christian life in this fallen world. And how else do we have true knowledge of God but through the pages of His Word, the Bible? In fact, Peter goes on to say that such knowledge comes through God’s granting “to us His precious and magnificent promises” (2 Peter 1:4).

Discernment — the ability to think biblically about all areas of life — is indispensable to an uncompromising life. It is incumbent upon the Christian to seize upon the discernment that God has provided for in His precious truth! Without it, Christians are at risk of being “tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine” (Ephesians 4:14).

HT: Pulpit Magazine.

This video of a church experiencing the “fire” literally gave me the creeps… the hairs on my neck and back were standing on end!

Please guard yourself against demonic influence before watching it. Not recommended for minors.

If your church pastor constantly preaches such fire and even “anoints” the congregation with such “blessings”, please discern that this is not of God and get out of there!

Like me, some of my regular readers who are themselves bloggers speaking out against falsehoods will no doubt have been the target of such verbal/written attacks by those who refuse to discern.

The term “Pharisee” immediately carries a negative connotation because throughout our Lord Jesus Christ’s ministry on earth, He chided the Pharisees on numerous occasions, even calling them vipers. It is therefore no wonder that Christians in general today use the term “Pharisee” much like a Christian cuss word (if there were such a term).

However, one must wonder who the Pharisees really were, and it is towards this purpose that Todd Wilken, host of the Issues, Etc. radio program, has written a fantastic article in the latest Issues, Etc. Journal that discusses how the average Christian and those in the anti-discernment crowd play the “Pharisee card” as a means of silencing those who Biblically critique and challenge pop evangelicalism.

Said Todd:

Those who play the Pharisee Card hope to dismiss Christians like you and me as ultra-conservative doctrinal purists with no love for the lost. But like a fifth Ace up the sleeve, the Pharisee Card is a cheat. Those who play it ignore the real errors of the real Pharisees. They wrongly apply the name to those who stand in the way of false teaching, compromising change and a watered-down gospel. In the end, The Pharisee Card amounts to nothing more than name-calling. And, like the Race or Gender Cards are in politics, in the Church, the Pharisee Card is always the sign of a losing hand.

Click here to read the entire article (PDF).

HT: Christian Research Net.
Picture Credit: “Rubens - Feast of Simon the Pharisee” at Wikipedia.

I came across this four-part series of videos by Justin Peters, who has credentials as a Master of Divinity (Biblical Languages), a Master of Theology (New Testament Major / Theology Minor), and is a recognized expert on the Word of Faith movement, having done his thesis on the life and ministry of Benny Hinn.

If you yourself are involved in a church that teaches this dangerous doctrine, and/or holds Benny Hinn and other false teachers in high esteem, I beseech you to watch this four-part summary and find out for yourself just how far removed such doctrines are from BIblical teachings.

And if you know anyone — loved ones, friends, etc — who are in such a church or following pastors who actively advocate the teachings of such false teachers, please show these videos to them. Better yet, order the full DVD set¹ of the series A Call For Discernment by Justin Peters.

Read the rest of this entry »

I agree with my brethren at DefCon that we have spent enough time highlighting and warning about the false prophet Todd Bentley. To continue doing so would just give this undeserving man undue attention; moreover, I think that I have given out enough warnings that those who are discerning enough would have seen the light by now.

As for those who persist in following this prophet of Baal, I’ll still pray for their eyes to be opened, and that they love not the darkness anymore, but turn to the true light — Christ Jesus.

And, so, with that said, here’s my last warning on this false prophet with a video that I think most apt for the occasion.

What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there a thing of which it is said,
“See, this is new”?
It has been already
in the ages before us.
There is no remembrance of former things,
nor will there be any remembrance
of later things yet to be
among those who come after.

Ecclesiastes 1:9-11

Indeed, there is nothing new under the sun as the Bible, the Word of God, very rightly points out (for who has wisdom like the Lord our God concerning all truths?).

This article by John Green was written 10 years ago, but what was written still very much applies today. We can see, perhaps without much surprise to some of us, that many of the same arguments against many who call out the truth are not new.

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This is an ad-hoc weekly column where I share some of the best blog posts I’ve come across in the previous week. Some are notable for their content, while others are calling you to action to help pray about an issue or for fellow bloggers.

Twenty-Three Great Sins Of American Evangelism — Why We Must Pray For A Reformation Again

While reading a great blog Theology Today, I came across a mention of the above post over at Al Tosap Al Davaraiv which lists the 23 reasons why the author feels a reformation is needed in this day and age.

I don’t know much about the American church, but I think it’s apt to say that the author’s observations are true for the Visible Church as a whole.

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Perhaps some of you are thinking that after starting the ball rolling on a rather loud debate on the prosperity gospel, judging, discernment, motives, etc, I’m really ’smart’ to keep away and just let things roll while  not saying a word.

The fact of the matter is that I didn’t want to respond to every comment because there’s no point in doing so — the final message gets fragmented into so many comments so much so that the crux of the matter is lost somewhere along the reply to a reply to a reply…

The other fact is that I’ve been doing quite a good amount of thinking, following several comments to the post and personal emails to me addressing the issue.

And I think I’ve come to the point where I think I’m ready to take this issue of why I am doing what I am doing forward to its next level. Initially, I had thought of closing the comments on the last post on the false teachers with a last comment from me (since its my prerogative as its my blog after all, right?), but I thought a post would be better.

Let me therefore lay it all out for you as to my position. Just a disclaimer before we continue: if I quote you on your comment in a negative light, it is NOT an attack on you. Read the rest of this entry »