'Earnestly contending for the faith,' (Jude 3 ) as well as sharing encouragement and hope through Scripture (Romans 15:4), and through the poems and posts that I write. One of many voices on the Internet warning Christians of the importance of testing the teachings of men (and women) against the unchanging truth of God's Word. (Acts 17:11) I 'warn you with tears' through much of what I write, to 'be on guard against the savage wolves that will come in among us who will distort the Word of God' as God's Word warns us about in Acts 20:26-31
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Are you aware of the dangers of Contemplative Spirituality? Would you know error as soon as you heard or saw something? Do you take the time to do some research on authors of books that are mentioned or suggested for you to read by those in leadership at your church before reading them? I pray that this post will help you learn to discern and show you just how very important it is to not only read and study God’s Word and to pray for discernment, but also how very important it is to always be alert for spiritual deception! I also pray that you will see just how subtle spiritual deception begins and how it can dangerously progress and lead you away from Biblical truth!
Before we begin, here’s some background information:
I used to be on Twitter quite frequently a few years ago. However, going on Twitter, as well as on Facebook, can turn the intended amount of time of being on there for just fifteen or twenty minutes, to at least an hour or two if you get drawn into commenting on a tweet or a post that you see the need to express your appreciation for or concerns about. It made me realize just how time consuming social media can be! All that to say this: I decided to go back on Twitter recently because I saw a huge spike in my blog stats on May 3rd, and the views were all coming from Twitter. Everyone was reading one of my most popular posts regarding why I left my church, HarvestBible Chapel Rolling Meadows, back in 2012 after attending there for 14 1/2 years: https://living4hisglory.wordpress.com/2012/07/08/warning-you-with-tears/ Jessica Hockett, also a former member of Harvest Bible Chapel, had discovered my post and after realizing that she had been — and continues to be — an important person in the ongoing investigation regarding the misappropriation of funds by former Pastor, James MacDonald, and the wrongdoings and coverups that have been taking place at Harvest Bible Chapel Rolling Meadows, I began to read up on the very latest of what had been happening.
Now, to get to the important point of this post:
After a few weeks of being on Twitter and connecting with many people who also have serious concerns about those who once were in leadership there, and concerns regarding some who are still in leadership, as well as love and concern for the people who are still attending there, I saw that some people had posted a recording of a recent HARVEST BIBLE CHAPEL ROLLING MEADOWS FAMILY MEETING – (MAY 29, 2019) and decided to listen to see what people were being told by those in leadership and to also see if any emotional manipulation was taking place. There definitely was some emotional manipulation taking place by what was being said to those in attendance, but this post is going to focus on something else that is equally or even more serious. I will continue now by telling you what I heard in that audio that urged me to write this post in order to send out a serious warning not only to those who are still attending Harvest Bible Chapel, but also to everyone because these types of unbiblical teachings are coming full force into many churches these days through so-called Spiritual Formation classes and similar classes!
NOTE: To those of you who may now be reading this post and are still choosing to continue attending Harvest Bible Chapel, (the Rolling Meadows location especially), I want to clearly state beforehand that my intention in writing this post is not to bring you any more pain as you are all trying to heal, but rather to help you — and every one else — realize the importance of thinking for yourselves, to help you realize the necessity of examining the Scriptures daily to see if what is being said is true (Acts 17:11), to alert you to what some — or all — of your leaders are involved in, and to give you information about some troubling things that they have already presented to some of you, and information about what they may very well present to you in the near future.
Although this information mainly has to do with HBC, this information is as relevant to every other Christian because what I am about to share with all of you is coming into many churches through numerous pastors, teachers, and authors of books that are being promoted at many churches these days.
Now back to the main thing that I heard as I listened to the audio of the family meeting at HBCRM and what I discovered after doing a lot of research:
As I continued listening, I heard Greg Bradshaw encourage everyone to “read” this summer and to “get a good book.” He mention a book entitled, Emotionally Healthy Church beginning at the 24:18 minute mark by saying:
“We’re reading as a church — we provided for our staff — ‘Emotionally Healthy Church.’ We’re reading ‘Emotionally Healthy Church’ book this summer as a staff…”
I had never heard of that book before, so I decided to do some research on it, as well as taking some time to do some research on the author, Peter Scazzero. Here are some of the alarming things that I discovered:
Here is what you will see on the Our Vision page on the website of the church that Pete pastors — New Life Fellowship Church — that is located in Queens, New York. Red flag words: Spiritual formation practices, Monastic values, contemplative and monastic traditions, Desert Fathers and Mothers, and monks.
The following 1 hour and 16 minute video is the first of many videos that I watched and listened to in order to find out as much as possible about Pete Scazzero and what he teaches. Below the video you will see a list of notes that I took as I listened. I did that for you for the first 30 minutes of the video.
Pete says people are not experiencing deep transformation.
Mentions self awareness, managing one’s triggers under stress
Pete claims to have had 4 conversions
Notices and says, “People are not changing deeply in our church.”
1994 Pete starts an inward journey for 2 years
Started Christian counseling
His wife confronted him on how he’s not a strong leader – left his church, attended another one
Pete shows diagram created by now deceased professor of Fuller Theological Seminary , Robert Guelich, and claims Emotional Health and Spiritual Maturity are inseparable
Emotional component
He claims he and his wife were “born-again” again
1996-2003 Claims “a little revolution took place in our church just by bringing in the emotional component”
He still felt “something more was needed.” He “began to read quite a bit about Monasticism.”
2003, 2004 – For a 4 month period he and his wife “visited a variety of monasteries and lived rhythms of silence and solitude.”
A revolution. Third conversion.
Pete says about Christians in general, “We’re so busy we have to live off other people’s spirituality.”
Got people connected personally with God directly
Made drastic move to slow down their lives
“…people’s lives began to be radically transformed…finally wrote it down into a couple of books.”
The description that can be found under the following video on YouTube, says:
“Pete Scazzero interviews Rosy Kandathil about her experiences at the Monastery. Rosy is a former staff and pastor at New Life Fellowship and began a journey to become a Benedictine Sister.”
Being a former Catholic, I find it very troubling that he presented this woman, Rosy Kandathil, who was once a “pastor” at his church and who is now in the process of becoming a Benedictine nun to speak to the people at his church, but it further shows that he is clearly promoting Catholicism and Contemplative New Age spirituality.
Just in case the following video entitled, ‘Pete Scazzero Interviewing a Trappist Monk on Prayer‘ disappears for some reason, I did a quick capture of it for you to document the fact that Pete Scazzero is promoting eastern mysticism and Catholicism by featuring William Meninger, a Catholic trappist monk, at his church. Once again I must ask a question: Why would a professing Christian pastor choose to have a monk speak at his church if he wasn’t?
Here is the video:
Below are some quick captures from the above video that will show you how Pete Scazzero has embraced the teachings of Catholicism regarding communion, that being that Jesus Christ is truly present in the elements of bread and wine and that Jesus comes into us when we take communion:
Here is a reminder for you of what it says in the Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding their communion which they call, the Eucharist:
“In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist “the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained.” (Para 1374 CCC)
Here is one of the anathemas (curses) regarding the Eucharist that you will find in the Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent:
Canon 3 “If anyone saith that the Sacrifice of the Mass is only a sacrifice of praise and of thanksgiving; or that it is a bare commemoration of the sacrifices consummated on the cross, but not a propitiatory sacrifice; or that it profits him only who receives; and that it ought not to be offered for the living and the dead for sins, pains, satisfactions, and other necessities; let him be anathema.”
[NOTE: Lord willing, I will be going in depth on the teaching of the Eucharist and the Sacrifice of the Mass in light of Scripture when we get to that part in the CCC book.]
One look at William Meninger in the following picture that was chosen as the main image for this video should leave no doubt in one’s mind that what he presents is not Biblical Christianity, but rather a form of mystical, New Age spirituality that is rooted in Buddhism, which is the same type of spirituality that Pete Scazzero is presenting at the church he pastors, New Life Fellowship Church in New York.
For those of you who have never heard of The Cloud of Unknowing, here are some resources for you to help you learn to discern so that you will not be deceived by this:
The reason I am concerned that these mystical, New Age practices might very well be encouraged to be practiced by those attending HBCRM is not only because this book by Pete Scazzero was mentioned by Greg Bradshaw at the Family Meeting as a book that is being read by the staff, but also because of what Greg Bradshaw said beginning at 16:03-16:46 minute mark which was:
“How do you rebuild hope? I told our staff and I’m telling you, ‘The way you rebuild hope is intimacy with God.’ There’s no shortcut… but if your struggling a little bit with hope, ‘What is this going to look like at our church,’ the way to build hope is intimacy with God. And how do you build intimacy with God? There’s no shortcut, it’s disciplines. It’s finding time to get alone with God. It’s called solitude.”
In order to show you that I am not merely speculating, here is some documented evidence that I came across in my research that will prove to you that as far back as 2012 Pete Scazzero and his Emotionally Healthy Spirituality (EHS) teachings have been promoted in some ways at HBC:
I am also very concerned for all of you at HBCRM because of Greg Bradshaw’s emphasis on having “intimacy with God” and “getting healthy” as a church in light of his focus on Pete Scazzero’s book, ‘Emotionally Healthy Church’ which clearly presents New Age/New Spirituality/Catholic mystical practices as ways to haveintimacywith God. After listening to the audio of HBC’s Family Meeting, I just strongly felt led to write this post as a warning of what might be presented to you this fall as the leadership at HBC seems to be raising a level of excitement about what they desire to see take place starting this fall season.
UPDATE 7/3/19 10:22 A.M.NOTE ADDED FOR CLARIFICATION:
I need to make it very clear that I am not saying that the leaders at Harvest Bible Chapel are intentionally and knowingly promoting these unbiblical, occultic teachings…they may be deceived into believing these are acceptable practices to do to bring one closer to God like so many other Christians have been (wrongly) led to believe. Harvest Bible Chapel leadership has been promoting Beth Moore and Priscilla Shirer for many years now, and these women (wrongly) teach how to hear God speak to you. (Please consider reading the following post to see the documentation that I have on these women: HARVEST BIBLE CHAPEL LEADERSHIP, CHRISTIAN LEADERS, AND THE LACK OF BIBLICAL DISCERNMENT). However, there is no excuse for pastors and teachers who are held to an even higher lever of accountability (James 3:1) to fall for or to present such unbiblical practices to the people at their churches. Sadly, when many pastors see that a certain teacher is popular, they simply order their so-called “Bible studies” and fail to take the time to test what they actually teach against the truth of God’s Word to see if it is true or not. Harvest Bible Chapel Rolling Meadows leadership has fail to be Biblical shepherds and to guard their flock from false teachers; instead they just invite them in: Mark Driscoll, Steven Furtick, Levi Lusko, etc.
“Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God which he bought with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28)
We are all called to: “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21,22) As Christians, we think that we can trust those in leadership, but that simply is not true. The only one who we can completely trust is Jesus Christ alone and His Holy Word that will endure forever. (1 Peter 1:25)
Besides constantly praying for discernment, now, more than ever before, we as Christians must: study God’s Word ( 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV), examine the Scriptures daily to see if what is being said (and done) is true (Acts 17:11) or not, and always be alert so that we are not deceived by the many ways in which our enemy, the devil, is attempting to devour us. (1 Peter 5:8)
Please also consider reading this post regarding Levi Lusko: HOW DISCERNING ARE YOU? He was a guest speaker at Harvest Bible Chapel Rolling Meadows in 2016 on January 2nd and 3rd. [NOTE: Just to let you know, this post also includes a Biblical analysis of a message that T D Jakes’ daughter (Sarah Jakes Roberts) preached, entitled, ‘The Displaced Crown,’ but she did not present this message at Harvest Bible Chapel. The video that she preached her message in was taken down shortly after I posted it.] END OF UPDATE
Dear Harvest Bible Chapel Rolling Meadows members and attendees — and every Christian — beware! Beware of what is being presented to you as ways to develop intimacy with God. We have God’s Word, the Bible. What more could we ever need in order to develop intimacy with God? Nothing more! Especially when the practices that are suggested for us to do in order to have intimacy with God is derived from unbiblical, New Age practices that can be found in Buddhism, Hinduism, and mystical practices derived from Catholicism –practices that open up doorways into the world of the occult!
“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” And, “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” (2 Corinthians 6:14-18)
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” (1 Timothy 4:1)
“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (2 Timothy 4:1-4)
“Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. Therefore I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard. Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” (Acts 20:25-31)
Thank you very much for stopping by today.
God Bless You
~Mary Dalke – Living4HisGlory
RELATED VIDEOS
In the following video, Pete Scazzero, who is also the co-founder of Emotionally Healthy Discipleship (EHD), where they “help leaders around the world grow their people into mature disciples of Jesus,” tells us how EHD has “helped thousands of people move from a shallow Christianity to a deep authentic relationship with God, themselves, and others.“Although he may give some good suggestions in his courses, such as taking enough time to rest, to say that the Christianity of those who do not pursue the ways through which he suggests in his courses in order to be able to have a “deep authentic relationship with God” is “shallow Christianity,” is very troubling!
In the following video, ‘Pete’s Take on Daily Office,’ that you will find further below this quick capture from the video, Pete Scazzero has this to say beginning at the 1:31 minute mark:
“…but the silence to me is the quality that probably I found most significant because again, I’m being with Jesus my lover, and I’m quieting myself down, I’m centering in Christ and abiding in this love relationship allowing Him to love me and I’m loving Him back.” (Emphasis is mine).
This is sometimes referred to as spiritual romanticism; it is a completely unbiblical form of thinking in which we view Jesus Christ as our “lover.” This is frighteningly becoming a more common belief among professing Christian teachers (such as Ann Voskamp), and it leads Christians down an unbiblical and dangerous path!
In the video that you will find further below, which is entitled, ‘What is the Daily Office & Why is it Needed,’ at the 2:43 minute mark you will find this chart that shows ‘the core of the EHS (Emotionally Healthy Spirituality) Course.’ These are very similar to the experienced based methods that you will find in transcendental meditation and in the New Age Movement.
At the 3:23 minute mark in the video below you will hear Pete Scazzero quote Brother Lawrence, and at the 4:43 minute mark in this same video you will also hear Pete Scazzero quote Dallas Willard. Both of these men promoted unbiblical, contemplative, mystical, spirituality. (See information on these men that I have added below for you at the end of this post).
Beginning at the 5:09 minute mark in the same video that you will find further below, you will also see this chart with Silence & Stillness Guidelines that clearly present the same type of steps that you will find in eastern meditation practices in Buddhism, but they have been repackaged using Christian terminology:
Finally, here is the actual video, entitled: ‘What is the Daily Office & Why is it Needed?’
At the 4:12 minute mark in the following video you will hear Pete Scazzero say:
“Remember, the purpose of the Daily Office is to commune with God.”
He ends this video by saying: “…and I trust that you will find, as I have, that you are remembering and thinking of God much more throughout your days, in ways that you never imagined or did before.”
When anyone tells you to practice spiritual disciplines that are the same types of spiritual disciplines practiced by Buddhist and Catholic monks only Christianized to make them appear acceptable, or if you are told to read a certain book or that taking a specific course is going to change your spiritual life rather than telling you that all you need is to spend time with God in His spiritual life giving, life changing Word — the Bible — that should send up an immediatered flag within your spirit! We are sadly at a point in time when many professing Christian pastors and teachers are casting aside Biblical Christianity. Instead they are now focusing on man’s emotions and promoting having experiences with God that come directly out of the world of the occult!
I am sure that Pete Scazzero and his wife are probably very sincere and wonderful people, but they have sadly been deceived by accepting these unbiblical practices as ways to develop a deeper relationship with God. When trying to search for ways to help their people grow in their relationship with God and to grow spiritually, they have wandered off the Biblical path and are now presenting to their people — and to the world — teachings that are telling everyone to look inward instead of looking to God and seeking Him in His Word.
God is the only one who transforms us by His Word and by His Holy Spirit when we choose to believe the good news of the Biblical gospel and come to Him through Jesus Christ; transformation does not come about by looking inward and dwelling on the past and on our emotional pain and struggles. (Isaiah 43:18) (Philippians 3:13)
Jesus Christ was and is God in the flesh. Jesus, being fully God, took upon Himself human flesh and entered our sin-filled world. He lived the perfect, sinless life that we could never live, and became the perfect sacrifice. Jesus Christ, the spotless Lamb of God, willingly went to the cross where He bore all of our sins as well as all of our grief and sorrows, and God poured out all of His wrath intended for us because of our sins upon His one and only Son. He died in our place, was buried, and was gloriously raised to life on the third day in bodily form to show that God accepted His death as full payment for every one of our sins — no matter what we may have done! God is love, but He is also just. Therefore sin must be paid for, and Jesus paid our debt to sin in full –tetelestai. That is the life changing good news of the Biblical gospel that transforms a person’s life!
May I share a personal illustration with you? During the twelve years of my marriage I became a broken and shattered woman emotionally because of the way that my ‘husband’ treated me. However, everything began to change when I began to read the Bible and came to see the truly good news of the Biblical gospel for the first time and chose to believe it and to place my full trust in all that Jesus Christ accomplished for us. In the midst of my deep hurt I did not look inward. I cried out to God and read His Word often throughout each day as the tears fell and my heart broke in thousands of pieces. As I spent time in prayer and in His Word, God began to heal me and to renew my mind and troubled heart and I no longer based my worth as a person by how my ‘husband’ treated me, but rather by what God’s Word says. That is when my life began to change and God began to transform me into a new creation in Christ. Day by day I learned to trust God more, and day by day His strength became perfected in my weakness and His peace that surpasses all human understanding began to guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus as I prayed and stopped worrying about everything. He proved Himself over and over to be faithful and able to meet all of my needs in ways that I never would have imagined!
I pray that Pete and his wife will begin simply seeking God in His Word and that one day he will cast these unbiblical practices out of his church, his books, and his presentations, as well, and that he will point his people — and all Christians — back to Jesus Christ — who was and is God in the flesh –so that they will find true and lasting transformation! As true Biblical Christians that is what we are all to do.
I hope you can now see that in many ways Christianity today is becoming more and more experiential based. Sadly, God’s Holy Word, the Bible, is now being used by many as a tool to bring one into an altered state of consciousness as it is twisted and repeated over and over. God’s Word is no longer seen as having the greatest importance as it is read and studied in context. The only way to truly come to know God is through coming to Jesus Christ in simple faith and believing that His “once for all sacrifice” was truly enough to pay the debt for all of our sins in full!
Please do not be deceived by these unbiblical types of practices that may sound very appealing to you emotionally, but at their very core is New Age Catholic mysticism.
RELATED VIDEOS
More videos to show you how William Meninger, who was a guest at Pete Scazzero’s church, is heavily involved in New Age/ New Spirituality/Buddhism/Catholic mysticism.
Here is some information regarding Fuller Theological Seminary, the seminary that now deceased Professor of New Testament, Robert Guelich taught at. He was the one who made the chart that Pete Scazzero showed in his presentation at the 22:32 minute mark in the first video entitled, ‘Emotionally Healthy Spirituality – An Evening With Pete Scazzero.’
Lord willing, another new post coming later this month or in August on this same subject regarding how Catholic mysticism is infiltrating many churches these days and leading many Christians astray in order to show the extreme importance of reading and studying God’s Word and praying for discernment.
Also coming later in July, Lord willing, will be another new post in the series in which we will continue comparing the teachings found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church to a Catholic New Testament to show precious Catholics the truly good news of the Biblical gospel and that many of the things that they are being taught, which is based on the traditions of men, contradicts God’s Word, the Bible. It is equally important for all Christians to know this information so that they not only come to realize the need to share the truly good news of the Biblical gospel with their dear Catholic friends and family, but also so that they will not be deceived into thinking that Catholicism is Biblical and end up being lured into Catholicism by one of many ways that have been devised by our enemy, the devil.
5/23/19 UPDATED THIS POST WITH LINK TO JULIE ROYS NEW POST IN WHICH FORMER EMPLOYEES SHARE STORIES THAT REVEAL JAMES MACDONALD IS A VERY TROUBLED PERSON IN NEED OF A LOT OF PRAYER –AND HELP! UPDATE BELOW HIGHLIGHTED IN PURPLE
5/21/19 UPDATED THIS POST WITH MANCOW MULLER’S PODCAST REGARDING THE ‘NUCLEAR OPTION’ HE SPOKE OF. SEE UPDATE BELOW NEAR THE END OF THIS POST HIGHLIGHTED IN BLUE
5/20/19 UPDATED THIS POST WITH THE MOST SHOCKING AND DISTURBING NEWS YET! SEE LINK BELOW DATED MAY 20th! PLEASE BE PRAYING!
As Christians, many of us think that we should be able to trust those in leadership positions at our churches. But sadly, we cannot. For those of us who seriously read and study God’s Word, we are keenly aware of the many warnings and examples in Scripture that show the necessity of testing everything against Scripture –especially the teachings and behavior of those who claim to preach and teach God’s Word. Many of us have learned by personal experience that some pastors who are supposed to be loving shepherds who are to guard and protect their flock that God has entrusted to them, are instead verbally abusive, manipulative, and seeking their own glory instead of desiring to glorify God. We have learned the hard way that we are to place our trust in God alone and not in mankind. But for those of you who have not yet come to realize this extremely important truth, let me ask you these questions:
What would you do if you found out that the leadership of your church was hiding the facts about sexual abuse that took place?
What would you do if you discovered that your child may have been one of the victims but was afraid to tell you?
What if they were even possibly threatened to keep silent?
What would you do if you discovered that your child took part in a game presented to them by a Christian leader called “Punch the Rat” where there were presents in all of the boxes –except for one. In this one box contained a live rat that squealed in pain when the children, unbeknownst to them, would punch the rat instead of a box that contained a present? Here is what someone on Twitter shared:
“Wooden crates were constructed with gifts inside. Kids knew there was a live rat inside one. They cringed when they had to hit bc they knew they could hear the animal noise of pain” this quote is from a woman who’s daughter was there.”
Think about it. Instead of teaching our children about Jesus Christ, these “Christian” leaders who are supposed to be setting forth an example of Jesus to our children — Christian leaders whom we have placed our precious children in their care — are showing our children that it’s okay to abuse animals! Those who don’t want to participate because they don’t want to hurt the rat and who are not strong enough to continue standing against this act of abuse, could then be pressured to conform to the thinking of the majority in order to be accepted, and their sensitive consciences slowly become hardened and therefore they slowly begin to lose the ability to clearly know what’s right and what’s wrong. In the adult world we call this the Hegelian Dialectic Process.
It is a known fact that many who abuse and kill animals when they are children grow up to abuse — and even kill — people, as well. Please sit down with your children and ask them if they have ever played these games and tell them how wrong games like this are. Teach them to be compassionate and loving not only to animals, but also — and especially — to people.
Harvest Bible Chapel attendees and members who have not yet heard, I need to tell you that the above incidents that I have just shared with you regarding sexual and emotional abuse of children took place within your midst!
On May 12th 2019 another person on Twitter had this to say:
“At family party today my niece & nephew said they played a game at @HarvestBible1 camp called Spit the Cricket. You put it in your mouth & see how far you can spit it. They were taught it was funny. Grooming to not have empathy is real.”
The articles that I have linked to below are filled with documented evidence regarding many serious matters, including hiding facts about sexual abuse that took place! I never intended to write any more posts regarding Harvest Bible Chapel and James MacDonald, but as a former 14 1/2 year attendee and member of Harvest Bible Chapel Rolling Meadows (June 1997-Jan. 2012) I cannot remain silent and sit idly by as I read the extremely troubling information that is coming forth regarding what has gone on behind the scenes over the past seven years since I left. As I see the truth being exposed regarding the coverup of sexual abuse that went on (may God richly bless former HBC Counseling Pastor, Rob Williams, for reporting the abuse that took place by Paxton Singer. A true example of what it means to Act Like Men), as well as the ungodly character of James MacDonald that became known through audio recordings which should disqualify him from ever being a pastor again, his extravagant lifestyle that was approved by the elder board, his abuse of power and authority as he belittled godly men — and godly women — with his words and actions, his lack of remorse and repentance, etc., etc., I must speak out!
I also think of the innocent children who have been — and will continue to be — affected, not only by what has already taken place there, but also I think of how every precious child will be affected by the failure of their parents to take a stand and say, “Enough is enough,” and take some God-honoring action to make sure their children are safe and so they see a godly response from their parents regarding the failure of a pastor to be a true shepherd to the people that have been entrusted to his care. If a true shepherd fails in some way and is truly repentant, he would stand before his congregation and admit his failures and ask forgiveness for what he did, not leave the many people behind that he so deeply hurt in one way or another.
For those of you who attend Harvest Bible Chapel and are aware of these things, I understand your dilemma quite well. I know how hard it is to leave a church where you have so many wonderful relationships with those who attend there. However, is staying there honoring to God? Is staying there being a good example to your children? Is enabling this “ministry” to continue on by your attendance when so much was — and in some ways still continuing to be — hidden from you glorifying to God?
May I humbly suggest to those of you who want to leave but have nowhere to go:
Consider gathering together somewhere else where you can have a time of worship, prayer, and time in God’s Word. As many have been saying for many years now, “Vote with your feet and leave.” Let the empty seats represent your disgust at the wrongdoings and failures that went on with full knowledge and approval of those in leadership.
Where is their fear of the Lord? Where is their desire to honor God? If James MacDonald and Rick Donald were truly repentant they would have stood before the congregation in person, admitted their sins and failures, and asked for your forgiveness. Instead they seemingly flee to another state attempting to start afresh, sadly, it seems, not even thinking twice about the devastation they brought about and the shattered lives left behind; the result of their ungodly behavior. Even though it has been seven years since I have left HBCRM, I still pray for them when they come to mind. Every time I pass the church since I left, I pray the day will one day come when that horrible “vertical church” symbol will be taken down and a cross will take its place, and that the Biblical gospel will be preached, with no more manipulation of Scripture in an attempt to change the thinking of the congregation in order to lead people to believe what HBC leadership wants them to believe (Hegelian Dialectic Process – watch the last video below to learn more).
For those who have been devastated in one way or another by what has happened over the years by the words and actions of James MacDonald and others who were in leadership, do what the Lord is calling you to do. When you have done all you need to do, rest in the fact that we serve a God who sees the many injustices done. Although James MacDonald is no longer your pastor, the Lord knows the motives and intentions of his heart and He already knows what he is planning to do next. If James MacDonald truly seeks to honor God, he will have a true godly sorrow for not only all that he has done to bring shame to the name of Jesus Christ, but also he will have a true godly sorrow for all the people that he has hurt over the years and for all the ways that he has failed to be a true shepherd to the thousands of people he was given to care for. If he sincerely repents before God and personally apologizes to the many people that he has hurt and seeks to honor God in all that he says and does, God could indeed restore his ministry to something truly glorifying to Him. If he does not repent, God will bring it down, or he will have to answer to God one day.
Below I have linked to some important information that you all need to be aware of. Another story is soon to break, and as soon as it does I will add it to the links below. I am not trying to be divisive by posting this information. I only seek to share all of the information that others have gathered after doing a thorough job of researching and following many leads to help expose the many lies and deception before many more people are devastated by all that has happened at Harvest. I pray that God will use this information to help open your eyes to the truth so that you can see what is really happening. I care about all of you who may still be attending Harvest Bible Chapel and those of you who are considering starting to attend. Please open your eyes! Test everything in light of Scripture! (Acts 17:11) Seek God for the truth in these matters! Place your trust in Jesus Christ alone and not in the leadership of the church –any church!
As Christians we serve a God who sees all that is happening, and He will not be mocked! (Galatians 6:7) God is a God of love, mercy, and grace, but there comes a time when He will bring judgment and will bring down any ministry that is bringing shame to the name of Jesus Christ and the Biblical gospel and is instead exalting man and not Jesus Christ.
God also sees your pain and discouragement. He sees how deeply you have been hurt and how you served the Lord with all of your heart in the ministry that you were (and maybe still are) in. As long as you did it unto the Lord, rest assured that God used it — and will continue to use it — for His glory, and all of your work was not — and will not be — in vain:
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)
“And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.” (Colossians 3:23-25)
Bring your hurts to the Lord along with any anger and bitterness that may be within your heart. Remember, anger is not a sin. It’s what you do with your anger that makes it sin. (Ephesians 4:26) Righteous anger was demonstrated by Jesus Christ when He overturned the tables of the money changers in the temple. Pray for James, Rick, and all those who were once in leadership positions there, as well as those who are presently in leadership. Ask the hard questions! Stand against all that is wrong there! Demand answers! Protect your children from abuse, whether it be sexual (by inappropriate actions of leadership) or emotional (by verbal abuse or games such as Punch the Rat or Spit the Cricket)! If you haven’t done so already, sit down with your children and ask them if they have ever been touched inappropriately by anyone in church leadership or if they were told to do anything inappropriate, especially if your child attended Camp Harvest between the years of 2016 and February of 2019 when Paxton Singer was on staff. Let your children know that they can come to you with any concerns that they may have. If Biblical change does not come soon, then leave and do not turn back! I will be praying for all of you.
RELATED SCRIPTURES
“My eyes are on their ways; they are not hidden from me.” (Jeremiah 16:17)
“I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion. To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. Counsel and sound judgment are mine; I have understanding and power.” (Proverbs 8:12-14)
“An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.” (Titus 1:6-9)
“Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” (James 3:1)
“Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” (1 Timothy 4:16)
“Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28)
“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete. You are looking only on the surface of things. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as he. For even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than pulling you down, I will not be ashamed of it.” (2 Corinthians 10:4-8)
“For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. We are glad whenever we are weak but you are strong; and our prayer is for your perfection. This is why I write these things when I am absent, that when I come I may not have to be harsh in my use of authority–the authority the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down.” (2 Corinthians 13:8-10)
“Have nothing to do the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” (Ephesians 5:11)
“Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” (Acts 20:26-31)
“If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. Indeed, none of you should suffer as a murderer or thief or wrongdoer, or even as a meddler. But if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but glorify God that you bear that name. For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God? And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should entrust their souls to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.” (1 Peter 4:14-18)
I will end with this Scripture:
“There is no fear of God before his eyes. For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin. The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful; he has ceased to be wise and to do good. Even on his bed he plots evil; he commits himself to a sinful course and does not reject what is wrong.” (Psalm 36:1-4)
RELATED VIDEOS
In the following very informative video, you will find James MacDonald, as well as Mark Driscoll, Steven Furtick, Perry Noble, and more. Although it is a very lengthy video, it is well worth the time to watch:
In the video below you will not only learn about the Hegelian Dialectic Process, but also you will learn about the unbiblical Church Growth Movement that incorporates worldly methods to grow the church instead of a pastor simply being faithful to preach God’s Word and trusting Him to grow the Church (Acts 2:42-47).
IMPORTANT INFORMATION THAT YOU NEED TO BE AWARE OF – MORE TO COME
UPDATE MAY 21, 2O19 FORMER SHOCK JOCK, MANCOW MULLER, WHO ONCE ATTENDED HARVEST BIBLE CHAPEL AND IS NOW MY BROTHER-IN-CHRIST, SHARES THE SHOCKING TRUTH ABOUT JAMES MACDONALD IN HIS PODCAST:
Thank you for doing that podcast, Mancow. It was very moving to hear the time of prayer you had, as well. You exhibit more godly character than James MacDonald, that is for sure! Praying God’s protection for you and your family, Mancow! Thank you for your courage to speak the truth and to be like Nathan the prophet to James MacDonald. Thank you so much for going to the police with all of your concerns! God bless you and your family. Please stay in God’s Word and do not let your faith be shattered by what James MacDonald has done and failed to do. Just simply follow Jesus Christ and not any man or ministry. Place your trust in Jesus Christ alone.
UPDATE MAY 23, 2019 REPORT BY JULIE ROYS – JAMES MACDONALD DISTURBING STORIES
I would like to thank Julie Roys, Scott Bryant, and Ryan Mahoney (and their families) for what they endured as they were determined to uncover the lies and to reveal the truth regarding the mismanagement of church funds and to bring to light the many things that were hidden regarding the ungodly character of James MacDonald. May God’s will be done so that He alone gets the glory.
I would also like to express my deepest thanks and appreciation to Rob Williams for his courage and concern to follow up to see if the child abuse that took place at the hands of Paxton Singer was reported by someone at Harvest Bible Chapel, and when he found out that it had not been, he submitted a report himself. Sadly, instead of protecting our children and exposing this evil that took place, the leaders of Harvest Bible Chapel Rolling Meadows seemingly chose instead to cover up the abuse that took place in an attempt to protect the name and fame of James MacDonald and Harvest Bible Chapel.
A special thanks also to Mancow Muller, a former attendee of Harvest Bible Chapel, who came to faith in Jesus Christ while he attended there, and who was also instrumental in bringing to light many of the horrendous things that revealed the true character of James MacDonald. May God heal him from the emotional abuse that he experienced from James MacDonald, and may God lead him to a truly Biblically solid church where God’s Word is preached without being twisted and distorted in any way.
UPDATE: 5/18/19 11:56 A.M.
Another person who I truly appreciate, because she has been very instrumental in gathering information regarding what has taken place at Harvest Bible Chapel over the years, is Jessica Hockett, a former member of Harvest Bible Chapel. Here is her timeline that she put together documenting what Harvest Bible Chapel claims happened regarding the child abuse that took place by Paxton Singer and the conflicting evidence:
Thank you very much for stopping by today.
God Bless You
~Mary Dalke/Living4HisGlory
Featured Photo by Mary K Dalke – Reflections Of His Glory Photography
Scripture added by Mary K Dalke on Pixlr Editor
UPDATE:
I am in the process of writing at least two more posts (not Harvest related), but due to my sister being in the hospital again, and other unexpected circumstances, I have not been able to finish writing them. My sister was released from the hospital tonight, so, Lord willing, I am hoping to get back to working on them over the next week or so until they are completed.
In light of all that has been happening regarding Harvest Bible Chapel lately, I’d like to share the following videos and Scriptures with you as a way to help you learn to discern, and to offer hope and encouragement to you, as well. Even though these videos were made in 2012, you will hear many things that clearly apply to this tragic and shameful situation.
Here are just a few of many eye opening things that you will hear Ingrid Schlueter say:
“A toxic church is any church or ministry leadership structure where maintaining an exterior image of a church or leader is more important than any single soul in the congregation.”
“A toxic church is any church or leadership ministry structure where truth tellers who raise honest questions, heart-felt questions, are shut down, demonized, and made to feel that they are the spiritually defective ones.”
“If you are in a situation that is toxic and abusive, don’t waste time. Don’t let the locust eat any more time, any more years of your life. Get out. Get your kids away from a place like that because they can become cynical. They can become disillusioned very quickly when they hear Mom and Dad discussing all of this stuff. It’s very harmful and Satan uses it in a thousand different ways to cause destruction. Leave. If they will not listen, if they will not hear you out, then go and let God deal with it.”
SCRIPTURES FOR YOU TO REFLECT UPON
“He tends His flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young.” (Isaiah 40:11)
“As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.” (Ezekiel 34:12)
“When He saw the crowds He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36)
“To the elders among you I appeal as a fellow elder, witness of Christ’ sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed. Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers–not because you must, but because you are willing as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.” (1 Peter 5:1-4 )
“Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” (James 3:1)
“For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; He will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 7:17)
I hope that you are praying along with me for all involved in this matter.
Welcome to the finale in the series of Warning You With Tears Wednesday posts –at least for this year so that I can focus on writing some other things that are weighing heavily upon my heart. It is my hope and prayer that through these series of posts you have come to realize the importance of testing everything that you read and hear in light of Scripture, and that you have especially come to realize the importance of examining the Scriptures daily to see if what is being said by your pastor, or your favorite preachers and teachers, is true. (Acts 17:11)
One of the signs that points to Jesus Christ’s soon return as recorded in God’s Word, the Bible, is spiritual deception, and that was the very first thing that Jesus Christ Himself mentioned when His disciples asked Him what would be the sign of His coming, and when would it take place. So with that in mind, I want you to see just a few of the many things that are leading many Christians astray these days, and it may possibly be even –you!
A few of the following things I have shared with you before, but I thought they were important enough to bring to your attention again, as well as to take this opportunity to warn those who may come across this blog for the very first time.
And now for the very lengthy over 10,000 word finale of Warning You With Tears Wednesday:
UPDATED AND COMPLETED SATURDAY 5/14/16 5:10 P.M.
1) Earth Day was April 22nd. Are you still under the impression that Earth Day is simply about cleaning up our environment and planting a tree? Read this article and you’ll discover the hidden agenda behind Earth Day:
2) Our world is rapidly changing. The return of Jesus Christ could be sooner than anyone could ever possibly imagine! Would you be ready if He returned today? The signs are all around us: increase in earthquakes, ungodliness, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, false teachers, spiritual deception, the love of many growing cold…the list could go on and on! Here are just a few shocking items in the news that points to the soon return of Jesus Christ:
— Parents, are you aware of Target’s new bathroom and changing room policy? Did you ever think that the day would come in your lifetime when men would be allowed in women’s bathroom’s and dressing rooms simply because they identify as a woman? What about the safety of women and children from rapists and kidnappers who may take advantage of such a policy? If you stand for Biblical values and want to make sure that your children are not put in harms way, it’s time to let your voices be heard by finding another place to shop like over one million people have already done –including me!
— The moral and spiritual decline that is taking place in our country and our world today is causing many children to become even more confused about who they are and what life is all about! Movies and television programs are making everything that God’s Word declares as being wrong and sinful seem normal and acceptable, and in the name of tolerance everyone’s views on life are being embraced –except those held by Bible believing Christians.
As Christians we are to have love and compassion for transgender people and share God’s love and truth with them as we are to do with all people. The truth is we were all created by God. He created some of us male and some female. For those who choose to reject what God’s Word has to say concerning how He uniquely created each one of us, maybe they will listen to what the American College of Pediatricians has to say:
3) Christian parents, are you carefully screening the programs that your children are viewing? There are many out there promoting religious beliefs even in educational programs. These programs can subliminally plant seeds of a completely different and unbiblical belief system of life and the afterlife into our children’s minds, such as what is presented in this video beginning at the 4:47 minute mark until approximately the 5:45 minute mark:
4) Some children’s programs can even lead your children into participating in eastern religious practices, such as yoga, which, in these programs is referred to as yogo –a gentle form of yoga:
And if you find yourself thinking that yogo was just a one time happening in these Waybuloo programs that feature adorable, wide-eyed characters who teach your children some good lessons about sharing, etc., when time allows watch this three hour extravaganza featuring many of their shows and you will see that it is a reoccurring part of their programs:
5) If you are still one of the many who believe that yoga is just another form of stretching exercises, please take the time to watch this video and share it with others, as well:
6) Parents – Christian and otherwise – I know that many of you out there have good intentions by enrolling your children in Karate class, or something similar. Maybe you’re thinking that it would be good to get them involved in something that will teach them self-discipline, self-confidence, and self-defense. However, you truly need to become aware of the occult roots of these practices, and realize the importance of you personally teaching your children how to live a disciplined life and how they should rely upon God for their confidence. When time allows, please consider reading the following testimony of Linda Nathan:
7) I also decided to share the following personal account of a former black belt champion, Eric Wilson, who was involved in the Martial Arts for 25 years, but please do not consider it as being an endorsement of his ministry in any way! This video comes with a very strong warning for you if you choose to listen to it: You need to be aware of the fact that this man, Eric Wilson, is part of the 7th Day Adventist church which is a cult. (See the video further below for a detailed look into the teachings and prophecies of Ellen G White). A Christian friend shared this video with me last year, and the reason that I am sharing it with you is because he truly gets to the roots of the occult nature of all of these Martial Arts practices. Now we just need to pray that he becomes aware of the false teachings of Ellen G White and the 7th Day Adventist Church!
8) With that being said, after you find the time to read the testimony above and watch the above video, as well, I hope that you will find yourself asking the same question that I did when I found the following video while searching for videos from a Biblical perspective in order to expose the occult roots of the Martial Arts. The question that I asked myself was: “Why is Pastor Raul Ries (of Calvary Chapel Golden Springs, CA) promoting the Martial Arts?”
Here he is at the United Martial Arts For Christ. Uniting Martial Arts with Jesus Christ is an oxymoron; like Christian yoga, they simply cannot be mixed together.
This is what you will find on his Calvary Chapel Golden Springs church website:
9) Former Martial Arts expert, Vito Rallo, briefly shares the Dangers Behind Martial Arts and Yoga:
Okay. Prepare yourself now as I take you down a verrry long and winding road that will lead you from one serious concern to another, and you will see how many of them are interconnected. A great number of these concerns involve the Calvary Chapel movement and their departure from Biblical truth because of their promotion of people and practices that do not reflect Biblical Christianity. In the end I hope that you will see how extremely important it is to test everything in light of Scripture and not to simply accept a person because of their testimony or embrace a teaching — regardless of how trusted the teacher may seem to be — without making sure that everything lines up with Scripture.
10) The next concern that I need to bring to your attention is the fact that Raul Ries’ son, Ryan Ries, promotes the singer Brian Head Welch from Korn who professes to be a born-again Christian. Korn management made an announcement back on February 22, 2005 that Brian had left Korn stating that he had “…chosen the Lord Jesus Christ as his savior.” (SOURCE)
In this video Ryan Ries shares his personal testimony. Although I will not judge his heart, it is truly sad that his focus was more on his life before he came to Christ, instead of on Jesus Christ Himself and the good news of the gospel:
11) Here is an interview that Brian did after becoming a Christian in which he shared a short version of his testimony, and how in spite of the fact that he grew up with the main members of Korn, he was very determined never to return to Korn.
12) In the following interview which was recorded back in December of 2009, Brian was asked to join up with Korn again, but he was still determined to continue in the new direction he had been going in since he was now part of the Whosoevers which not only included Brian, but also Sonny Sandoval, the lead singer of P.O.D. and co-founder of the Whosoevers, Lacey Sturm from Flyleaf, and Ryan Ries, who is also the co-founder of the Whosoevers movement.
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13) In February of 2012 Brian started a new band called Love And Death. Below is one of his songs entitled, Washed By Blood. Though there is still an intensely heavy metal sound to the music, the lyrics do present some Biblical truth:
14) Many Christians were very excited when they heard about Brian becoming a Christian, just as I was. However, some failed to take a closer look at his life to see if he was truly reflecting the character of Jesus Christ and exhibiting the fruit that gives evidence of a changed life. (Matthew 3:8)
Sadly, on May 2, 2013, Brian officially rejoined Korn. In the following video you will hear an interview with the members of Korn which was recorded shortly after Brian returned. You will hear him explain his reason for leaving Korn, and it is void of any reference to Jesus Christ.
When asked, “What was your process of getting your life back together?” He said the following:
“It was this church in Bakersfield I ended up going to…when I went into that place it was like love entered my heart and I came back to life and I wanted to live again. All of a sudden I was like cursed with all these positive thoughts in my head…I was like, “You’re going to be happy, you’re going to be okay,” and so ever since then I just did that.”
He gets another chance to share about Jesus Christ when asked the following question:
“A lot of people don’t make it. What do you think it was inside you that managed to pull you out of that?”
In part, here is Brian’s reply:
“…I felt that love enter my heart and hope entered me and I was like, “I can do this. And that was it. I was instantly addicted to that. I wanted that love, I wanted to feel that, and I wanted to raise my daughter, and I wanted to sit at home and get away from the rock star life, man.”
Warning! There are swear words at these minute marks (2:03,04, 4:34,35, 11:45-47, 54,55, 13:05,06, 14:05,19-27, 16:26,27, 19:49-20:02, 21:10,11, 24:55,56, 28:28-47, 31:14-18) in case you’d like to hit the mute button.
15) In the process of doing research on Brian, I came across the following video in which you will hear him share his testimony in great detail. He truly sounds genuine with much of what he says, but you will hear him focus way too much on his life before he made his profession of faith, and you will hear how he chose to dismiss the valid concerns that Christians expressed to him regarding his decision to return to Korn.
Ryan Ries does present the gospel at the end, but in light of all that I will be sharing with you in this post one has to wonder if Brian truly embraced Jesus Christ, or if he received “another Jesus” and “another gospel.” (2 Corinthians 11:4, Galatians 1:6-9)
16) When I first began watching videos on Brian in order to do research for this post, my first thoughts were that he was just simply led astray and deceived, because I didn’t see any clear evidence in what he was saying to show otherwise. However, the evidence to show otherwise became very clear after watching the videos further below.When time allows, consider watching them, but I need to give you this strong warning first:
CAUTION! This first video (uploaded by YouTube user, Psalm86 and originally created by Proverbs1:7Truth) is filled with some disturbing images from Korn’s concerts, music videos, etc., which were necessary to add in order to present you with an accurate portrayal of the life of Brian (Head) Welch after he made his profession of faith. It may only be necessary for you to simply watch the first few minutes of it in order to clearly see the truth about Brian. Please take some time to pray for him, as well:
Picture was quick captured from the video above)
17) As previously mentioned, Brian is part of a movement called the Whosoevers:
“The Whosoevers is a movement fueled by what the founders see as an overwhelming need to encourage individuals and speak purpose into the lives of millions around the world. The non-profit organization was founded in 2009 as a collaboration between Sonny Sandoval, Ryan Ries and Brian “Head” Welch with the intent to positively impact today’s music, skateboarding and art culture.[14][15] Ambassadors include [Lacey] Sturm, Annie Lobert, freestyle motocross athlete Ronnie Faisst, and lead singer of the band IslanderMikey Carvajal.” (SOURCE – Wikipedia)
In this short interview Ryan Ries explains the purpose for this movement:
When time allows, please watch the following video that was published in Feb. 2014 by YouTube Channel Proverbs1:7Truth. It is actually a portion of the Brian Head Welch Exposed video without the content that I cautioned you about:
Brian and the Whosoevers are strongly promoted at Calvary Chapel Golden Springs, where Raul Ries, the father of Ryan Ries is the pastor. Here is a current example:
If you watched the very disturbing Brian Head Welch Exposed video, as well as the previous one, then you will find yourself among the many who are asking themselves, “How can Calvary Chapel continue to promote Brian Head Welch?” But it gets worse, as you will soon see as we continue on down this long and spiritually dark and dangerous winding road.
18) The following pictures were quick captured from the video that I strongly cautioned you about earlier. If you choose to watch that video and examine all of the art work that is used on their album covers and added to the t-shirts that they sell, you will see how dark and disturbing much of it is:
Some may argue and say the skulls symbolize death in relation to our sinful nature, but if you take the time to examine more of the details of Brian’s life since he made his profession of faith, I think it will become more obvious to you that Brian should not be lifted up as a Christian role model for our youth at any church!
Let’s continue:
19) Brian attends Bethel Church where Bill Johnson is the pastor. This fact alone should cause many Christians to hesitate from promoting him at their church! Lord willing, I will focus on Bill Johnson in greater detail in an upcoming False Teacher Friday post later on this year. For now, here is just a sample of his teaching so that you will hopefully realize the unbiblical type of teaching that Brian is receiving!
Here are some more examples:
20) This article, written by John Lanagan of MY WORD LIKE FIRE, will not only show you that Bill Johnson has a low view of Scripture, but also he gives clear examples of how his teachings are based on New Age thought which makes them heretical and downright dangerous!
21) Here’s another article written by John Lanagan in which he shares how Bill and his wife Beni each contributed a chapter in the book The Physics of Heaven:
“As disturbing as The Physics of Heaven is, at least the book serves as a warning that Bill Johnson and Bethel (and others) are heading toward a New Age/quantum mysticism understanding of God.”
22) Pastor Larry DeBruyn of GUARDING HIS FLOCK MINISTRIES wrote a book review on The Physics of Heaven. Here’s Part 1:
23) There is a movie that is still in production in which Andrew Strom will focus on Bill Johnson and his promotion of New Age mystical experiences:
24) Andrew Strom also produced this shocking documentary which shows how the mystical practices that can be found in the world of the occult and the New Age Movement are making their way into many churches, and have been for quite some time now. Presently, this particular video has received over 127,000 views!
25) Now this spiritually dangerous road that I am taking you down veers back to Brian Head Welch:
Bethel Church produced a movie called The Holy Ghost Movie in which Brian also took part in. Here is a short one minute clip of Brian from the movie, and it’s all one really needs to hear to realize that what Brian said does not line up with Scripture:
26) Below is a clip from the sequel of the Holy Ghost movie which is entitled, Holy Ghost Reborn. If you choose to watch it you will see how a movie like this can play on your emotions. If you’re not careful and continuously on guard, you can easily be pulled in by the moving personal stories and forget to pray for discernment and fail to test everything in light of Scripture to see if what is being said and done is true or not, and possibly become deceived. (1 Thessalonians 5:21,22) (Acts 17:11)
In the very beginning of the short clip above, a man in Mecca had this to say:
“In the night I had this dream. And in the dream Jesus came. First he touched my forehead with his hand and said, “You have been saved…you have been saved. Then he opened his hand and placed it on my chest, and he said, “You belong to me.”
27) The Jesus who appeared to him in his dream was clearly not the Jesus of the Bible, but rather “another Jesus” who presented “another gospel” to him. It was more in line with Hinduism when a guru places his hand on a person’s forehead (shaktipat) in order to awaken the Kundalini serpent that is said to be coiled at the base of the spine. (You can hear a short explanation of this starting at the 4:48 minute mark in this video:
28) Here is a very thorough review of the Holy Ghost Movie by Tim Wirth and Sandy Simpson:
29) Since professing to be a Christian, Brian has become involved with many other very dangerous false teachers who are part of the New Apostolic Reformation: Todd Bentley, Patricia King, and John Crowder. As a reminder, Bill Johnson is Brian’s pastor, and he is also a part of the New Apostolic Reformation movement.
First, please watch these videos if you are not aware of who these people are:
Todd Bentley
Here is Bill Johnson praying his blessing on Todd Bentley. Not long after this prayer Todd Bentley’s healing revival came to a disastrous end when it was made known that he committed adultery.
Patricia King
John Crowder
30) If you are not aware of the beliefs of those who are part of the New Apostolic Reformation are, please watch the videos below. Just briefly, those involved with this movement believe that the Church must take dominion over government and certain aspects of society before Jesus Christ can even return. Pastor Chris Quintana of Calvary Chapel Cypress gives an excellent teaching on this in the following video, and more very good information is also provided by Sandy Simpson of Apologetics Coordination Team in the videos that follow:
Another thing you will see that is a common focus in the New Apostolic Reformation movement is their focus on manifestations and angels instead of focusing on preaching the Word of God. When time allows please consider watching these videos and please be sure to test everything in light of Scripture. (Acts 17:11, 1 Thessalonians 5:21,22)
Bill Johnson of Bethel Church:
Keep this in mind as you watch the following video: If this is truly the glory of God manifesting at Bethel Church, do you think that you would respond the way some of these people did? Or would you fall on your face in reverent fear knowing that you were in the presence of a thrice Holy God?
Patricia King:
31) Here are a few recent items concerning Brian just so that you can see what he is involved in presently:
James and Betty Robison are some of the many who have given in to compromise:
This “incredible author” whom Brian is promoting in the following tweet is a teacher at Bill Johnson’s church –Bethel Redding CA
As you can see in the tweet below Brian is promoting the music at Bethel Church:
In the following tweet, Brian is promoting Shawn Bolz’s new book about “hearing God’s voice.”
Shawn Bolz is the pastor of Expression58 Church. Note at the very bottom of this quick capture below that they promote Sozo/Inner Healing:
32) In case you are not aware of what Sozo is, a few years ago M’Kayla Kelly of M’KAYLA’S KORNER shared some articles on her blog on the subject, and you can read them at the link below. In the past M’Kayla was trained as a SOZO minister and she was once deeply involved at Bill Johnson’s Bethel Church, as well! (See video below under Related Videos).
The picture above was quick captured from the YouTube video entitled, “Brian Head Welch of Korn False Teacher of Christianity Part 2”
Now that you have a clear picture of Brian Head Welch, as well as some of the teachings of the company that he keeps and how he is clearly being influenced by people such as John Crowder and the many others involved in the New Apostolic Reformation, how is it even possible that Calvary Chapel can continue to promote him?
I never intended to focus so much on Brian Head Welch in this post. However, after doing research on him and watching videos not only put together by a dear Sister-In-Christ (YouTube user Psalm86), but also videos created by others who also expressed their serious concerns about Brian, one thing just kept continuing to lead to another. And after I found out from Psalm86 that Calvary Chapel promotes him, and because I came to realize the many spiritually dangerous people that he is involved with and how he could very well mislead many Christians who lack discernment, I decided to gather as much information as possible in order to emphasize the importance of the following:
We as Christians are to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and lift up Him alone; we are not to exalt any person who claims to have become a Christian. Just think of the possible devastation that can take place if young Christians follow those people that Brian is endorsing and is involved with!
If you are under the impression that Brian is a strong Christian role model and that he has not been affected in a negative way spiritually by his involvement with John Crowder (just to name one person), please watch this video and ask yourself if what he says reflects true Biblical Christianity, or if he sounds like he is echoing the very language of John Crowder and others and is blasphemous, as well! We are to “test the spirits” (1 John 4:1) and to “examine the Scriptures daily to see if what is being said is true” or not. (Acts 17:11) This is making a righteous judgment. (John 7:24)
Let’s look at a few Scriptures to get a Biblical perspective on how we are to think concerning Brian, or any person who claims to be a Christian, for that matter:
“I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people — not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. Expel the wicked man from among you.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-13)
“The Lord knows those who are His,” and “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.” In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the master and prepared to do any good work. Flee the evil desired of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord with a pure heart.” (2 Timothy 2:19-22)
“In fact everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted., while evil men and imposters will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:12-16)
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus by their fruit you will recognize them.” (Matthew 7:13-20)
“Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy because I am holy.” Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here with reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” (1 Peter 1:13-19)
“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:28,29)
Before I bring this post to a close, there are a few more serious concerns that you need to be aware of related to Calvary Chapel churches, and you will then see how some of these dangerous roads that I have been leading you down are merging together:
Concerns About Greg Laurie:
33) Many Christians are very sad and deeply concerned about Pastor Greg Laurie of Harvest Christian Fellowship Church in Riverside CA and wonder what ever happened that caused him to give in to compromise and drift so far from Biblical truth! Not only has he become closely associated with Purpose Driven Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in CA over the years, but also it seems that he has now aligned himself with Lou Engel who is part of the NAR — the New Apostolic Reformation — and he promoted the Azusa Now event that just took place on April 9th:
(As a side note, Shawn Bolz and Bill Johnson of Bethel Church, along with others such as Heidi Baker, also took part in this event, which raises the concern level for many Christians to extremely serious). (See videos below under Related Videos).
Below you will see a video of one of the most disturbing things that happened at this event that involves Lou Engle:
The following video reveals many more serious concerns one should have about Greg Laurie. It grieves me to have to share this video with you because when I first became a Christian I would get up early in the morning just so that I could hear him preach. He always presented a solid Biblical message! But sadly, because of the obvious choices that he has made over the years to give in to compromise, he is no longer considered trustworthy by many Christians. (Pause the video often so that you can read all the details in the quick captures that Phil Berean on YouTube made on the important information that he added to his video):
34) Another thing that is necessary to add to the list of serious concerns about Greg Laurie is that, according to a person who once attended his church, this person began to see “signs of Spiritual Formation in Jr. High and up,” which is why that person left Greg Laurie’s church.
Please don’t make the mistake of thinking that all Calvary Chapel pastors and those associated with Calvary Chapels have given in to compromise. That simply is not true! In the midst of the spiritual darkness that we see forming all around us, there is still hope. There are many who either once were, or still are a part of the Calvary Chapel movement who have not given in to compromise, such as Pastor Chris Quintana of Calvary Chapel Cypress. Lord willing, Pastor Chris is determined to present more Conferences similar to the recent ones that he had (such as the Defending the Faith Conference that took place in March 2016, as well as the Emerging Church Round Table Meeting that took place in February 2016) in order to gather like-minded Christian pastors together to speak out and to warn the body of Christ concerning not only the many forms of spiritual deception that are leading many Christians astray, but also to warn Christians about the massive attempt to unite all Christians together for the sake of love and peace, and declare falsely that this is the unity that Jesus Christ prayed to His Father for in John Chapter 17. There can be no unity unless it is built upon solid Biblical truth as its foundation, not on the traditions, teachings, and philosophies of men.
35) Chris Lawson of SPIRITUAL RESEARCH NETWORK is another one who has not given in to compromise. He was once a pastor at a Calvary Chapel Church, but resigned after all his attempts to bring his valid concerns to the attention of many pastors and leaders of Calvary Chapels were ignored. He recently posted a video explaining his concerns and all that he did to try and bring… You can read his article and watch the video at the link below:
Here are some more very serious concerns involving many Calvary Chapel Churches that I need to bring to your attention:
36) Many Calvary Chapels are beginning to present AWANA programs which now includes Spiritual Formation:
37) Roger Oakland was involved with the Calvary Chapel movement for many years and he was actually invited to be on staff by Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa CA in 1988 and he remained on staff for three years. He has been among the few who have been courageous enough to speak out to try and warn many Calvary Chapel pastors concerning the downward spiral many are taking spiritually, and has paid the price in many ways for doing so! Here are some of the serious concerns that he has recently brought to our attention:
When time allows please watch this video presentation by Cecil Andrews of TAKE HEED MINISTRIES if you are not already aware of the serious concerns that many Christians have with the Alpha Course:
38) Calvary Chapel in Budapest, Hungary holds Leadership Conference where Bill Hybels of Willow Creek Church trained leaders:
39) Many who are part of the Calvary Chapel Movement are extremely concerned about the spiritual direction in which things may go in the years to come due to the fact that the new pastor of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa is Brian Brodersen, the husband of Chuck Smith’s daughter, who is known for his strong stand for ecumenism. Here’s an article from Galatians 4 website which will give you more information, followed by the article that I previously shared with you earlier written by Roger Oakland. I am sharing it with you again because it’s related and it’s extremely important for you to be aware of this information in case you didn’t read it previously:
40) Here is another event that took place at the end of last year that I’d like to bring your attention to in order to show you the unbiblical unity that has already been forming in the name of ecumenism:
Mike Bickle – International House of Prayer – IHOP
41) John Lanagan has written many articles concerning the unity that has recently been taking place between Catholics and International House of Prayer and you can read his many articles at the link below:
Please forgive me if I have offended any of you who are Catholic who may now be reading this, but if you take the time to read the Bible and test the teachings of your church against what God has to say in His Word, you will come to the realization that Catholicism teaches “another Jesus” and “another gospel,” both having no power to save you. Plus anyone who gets involved with the International House of Prayer — no matter what religion they may be — will head down an extremely dangerous spiritual path where the focus is on mystical experiences and the teachings are based on Scriptures that are taken out of context and twisted to teach something entirely different than what the verses actually say.
If any of you are not aware of who Mike Bickle is, or if you have never heard of the International House of Prayer and the serious concerns that many Christians have about this movement, when time allows please watch these videos:
Misty Edwards:
Below is the information that I shared with you on a previous post concerning some of the unbiblical things that Misty Edwards had to say in the following videos. This is an example of the type of teaching that is presented at International House of Prayer that is leading the youth of today into unbiblical, mystical practices because they are encouraged to have experiences with God instead of being encouraged to seek God in His Word, the Bible:
In Part 1 you will hear her share a dream she has (@ 5:06) about God coming to her in a dream ‘in the form of a man and running like a lion…’ Then she speaks about “a Buddhist monk of sorts, and there’s this aura of peace…” But before she does, she says the following disturbing things, starting @ 1:20…
“I believe thenew thingHe’s doingis He’sabout tosplit thesky, comeback tothe planetas a man…Imean I really believe this-this sounds outrageous, doesn’t it?I believe that Jesus is gonna come back to the planet as a Jewish man… (can’t understand next few words) …”brown eyes, brown hair, not that tall- Jewish man, who was born to be a king, is coming back to the planet, and He is gonna come back to the planet in response to the bride who’s gonna be singing… unified, globally.This is intense where this thing is going.I’mlooking at your faces, and I’m going, “God, these-this iswho you’ve chosen, this is a- at least a stream of people that You’ve chosen for such a time as this, to raise up a new sound, a new song in the earth, for such a time as this to-to usher in the second coming.I mean, do you have any idea who you are?”
MISTY EDWARDS ON PROPHETIC WORSHIP AT BREAKOUT SESSION ONE THING 2007
42) Another event that I’d like to warn you about was brought to my attention via another Facebook Suggested Post. The next stop on the Outcry Tour takes place this month and every one of their events has the potential to draw many of our youth into embracing the dangerous unbiblical teachings of Brian Houston, Bill Johnson, Steven Furtick, etc., if they are pulled in any further than simply listening to the music!
43) In some of my previous posts I shared information with you concerning Hillsong, Jesus Culture, and Elevation Church/Steven Furtick, but now I need to warn you of the dangers that lurk beyond the pretty face and voice of Kari Jobe. In the following video you will hear Kari talk about her song, Forever that she wrote with Bill Johnson’s son, Brian Johnson and you will hear her say the following:
“We talk about the death on the cross, and we talk about the resurrection, but that time in between is when Jesus was in hell, rendering hell, and ransacking hell, and defeating the enemy, taking those keys to death, hell, and the grave to be victorious over that when He rose from the dead.”
Please do not consider me posting the above video as being an endorsement of the site Pulpit&Pen.
Others such as Joyce Meyer teaches this heresy, as well:
Herein lies one of the dangers of attending these concerts: Even though many go because they like the music, the theology ingrained into some of the lyrics of songs written by those who hold to an unbiblical view of Christianity can have a very damaging effect on one’s beliefs –especially if the listeners choose to get involved with these pastor’s teachings at some point in the future.
44)For those of you who read MYSTICISM MONDAY – THE FINALE, you may remember that I mentioned they were erecting the arch from the Temple of Baal in New York and in London. Well, I am happy to share what seems to be a victorious update with you:
45) A few days after posting the link above, I came across the following information. In part, the article says:
“The Monumental Arch [also called the Arch of Triumph] was built sometime during the reign of emperor Septimius Severus, which lasted from 193 to 211 AD; it linked the main street of the Colonnade and the Temple of Bel.” (I discovered this information by watching the following video which I decided not to post on my blog because I did not agree with some of its content, but I posted the link so as not to take credit for finding the following information on my own): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8hEyZvI2aw
46) Just as I was about to bring this post to a close, some information was brought to my attention concerning my former church of over 14 1/2 years — Harvest Bible Chapel Rolling Meadows:
Women of Harvest Bible Chapel this warning is specifically for all of you! You need to be aware of an upcoming Summer Study that could possibly present you with some unbiblical advice that could cause many of you to be led astray. Please read on:
According to the information on HBC’s website, the Rolling Meadows location will be offering you a SUMMER STUDY that will focus on “Having Intimacy With God.”
The term “having intimacy with God” is one that should raise a hugered flag for any discerning Christian! But it’s possible that some of you may still be under the impression that all those in Christian leadership at every church can be trusted. That simply is not true! Some in leadership just present to the people in their congregation what sells well, and some promote popular Christian authors without looking into what these authors actually teach, and they also fail to take the time to see if everything they say lines up with Scripture or not. So I’d just like to warn you that if the book that will be the focus for this SUMMER STUDY is written by Ann Voskamp, Beth Moore, or Priscilla Shirer, please do not sign up! Here is a very good article and two previous posts that will give you many good reasons why you shouldn’t sign up:
LIGHTHOUSE TRAILS RESEARCH – QUESTION TO THE EDITOR: WHAT ABOUT ONE THOUSAND GIFTS BY ANN VOSKAMP?
Since this will be the last Warning You With Tears Wednesday post — at least for now — I’d like to end with some articles and a few videos with information that I see as being some of the most important things for you to be aware of in light of the popularity of Beth Moore and what is taking place in the name of Christianity today. Some of these videos and articles I have shared before, but I see the need to share them with you again because they are filled with very important information that helps to truly open your eyes and fill in the blanks for all the unanswered questions you may have because of what you may see happening at your church. Be sure to pray and ask God for wisdom and discernment, and as you read the articles and watch the videos things will then begin to make sense, and you will finally realize what is actually taking place:
48) If your church already has Cell Groups or is in the process of forming them, here’s some very important information by Sarah Leslie of Herescope that’s a definite must listen to:
In my previous Warning You With Tears Wednesday posts I always tried to find something to end with that would give God the praise and glory that He is so deserving of, and in this finale I will do the same but end with two items:
50) Some of you who read this blog from time to time may have seen the video I shared last year concerning the large Hadron Collider that is located in Cern Switzerland and how scientists are trying to “recreate the big bang.” Stephen Hawking, who is an extremely brilliant scientist and is also an atheist, issued this strong warning:
“The God particle found by Cern could destroy the universe.”
Some people were quite disturbed and filled with fear after watching the above video because of the strange, paranormal things that were occurring there. (I must admit that I had a difficult time getting to sleep after watching this video for the first time late one evening last year). However, we as Christians are not to fear. The following article will clearly show you how God is in total control –no matter what evil plans these scientists or anyone may be devising:
The bottom line is, as Christians we are all personally responsible for our own spiritual growth. If we are truly followers of Jesus Christ and not followers of any man (or woman) and their ministry, we will read and study God’s Word, examine the Scriptures daily to see if what is being said is true (Acts 17:11), and we will test all things against Scripture and hold fast to what is true. (1 Thessalonians 5:21,22)
If watching the following video doesn’t bring you to tears and to your knees in prayer, and make you realize that we are living in the last days, then I don’t know what will!
Caution! Some very disturbing images! However, what you will see will give you an idea of the demonic chaos that will take place during the seven year tribulation period as described in the book of Revelation. Please repent and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ before it’s too late!
We must also take a stand for Biblical truth and pray and ask God for the courage to speak out while there is still time. We need to earnestly contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints (Jude 3) and speak the truth in love in order to warn other Christians of the many spiritual deceptions taking place in the name of unity,love, and tolerance.
We also need to share the truth of God’s Word with those who have not yet heard the good news of the gospel so that they will hopefully choose to place their trust in Jesus Christ instead of relying upon their false religion, their good works, and their sincerity to be enough to get them into heaven.
There is a false unity forming before our eyes. Can you see it? The roads are all beginning to merge together so that we will all walk down the same path. There is the path of oneness that is achieved through mystical practices and meditation, which is presented to Christians in Spiritual Formation classes as Contemplative Prayer or silent prayer. Have you fallen prey for this simply because you trust those in leadership who presented these practices to you at your church?
There is a call for unity out of love for one another which calls for everyone to set aside those things that divide us; a call to tear down barriers based on doctrinal differences. But there can be no unity unless it is based on truth –Biblical truth.
Christianity is exclusive. Not all paths lead to God. There is only one way, and Jesus Christ is the way. God’s Word is truth, and the words of men cannot be trusted.
They would have you believe that at the end of this road of unity and oneness will be a rainbow, and the world will experience true peace, love, and happiness.
But the truth is there will be no peace until the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, returns and sets up His kingdom –without the help of man! Do not be deceived! Please read and study your Bible and pray for discernment and check into these things! God’s Word is clear:
“Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” (Matthew 7:14)
Thank you very much for stopping by and taking time out of your busy day to read some of my posts and poems.
God Bless You
~Mary/Living4HisGlory
RELATED SCRIPTURES
“Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” (1 Corinthians 15:33)
“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matthew 7:15-23)
“I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.” (1 Corinthians 5:9-13)
“Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” (John 7:24)
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:13-20)
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” (1 Timothy 4:1)
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)
“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.” (2 Peter 2:1)
“Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” (Acts 20:26-31)
“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:18-31)
“O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men. For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain. Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:1-24)
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel — which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!” (Galatians 1:6-9)
“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” (2 Corinthians 11:3,4)
As a reminder, I’ll be taking some time off so that I can focus on writing some very in depth posts in which I will be addressing some very important topics that have been weighing very heavily upon my heart over the past couple of years or so.
At the same time that I was seriously considering writing about these things, God brought some women across my path who requested that I write about the very thing that I am most deeply concerned about! This confirmed to me that I am to write about these things (which I will not be revealing to you at this time).
However, before I begin writing on that particular topic, the next post that I will be writing and sharing with you will be one in which I will be comparing the teachings found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church with God’s Word –the Bible. Because of the deep desire that I have to reach Catholics with the truth that is clearly presented in God’s Word, I will be quoting from an exact copy of the little Catholic New Testament Bible that I read back in 1980 (I gave my original copy to someone to give to her dying mother-in-law who was a Catholic). I was a Catholic for many years until God revealed the truth to me as I read that little Catholic New Testament Bible, so I am praying and believing that God will reveal the truth of His Word to many others who are presently Catholic who will read His Word, and to those Catholics who happen to come across my blog and read this upcoming post and others I have written in the past where the teachings of Catholicism are compared to the truth of God’s Word. God’s Word will fill a Catholic with joy because it reveals what Jesus actually accomplished through His sinless life, His propitiatory sacrifice on the cross in our place for our sins, and His glorious resurrection from the dead on the third day! Sadly, Catholicism offers no assurance of salvation to Catholics. Instead they are given a false hope by being told that they will go to a (non-existent) place called purgatory after they die where they will burn in fire for an unknown amount of time to pay for the temporal punishment due for sin.
If you are a Catholic, please consider checking back here from time to time to read this post when it’s finished (Lord willing, hopefully in June or possibly in July) so that you can see what your church actually teaches, and what God’s Word clearly says about these things. You will be faced with a difficult decision to make because you will have to choose between believing what God’s Word has to say, or believing the words of men. But it is a choice that will determine your eternal destination, that you can be sure of. So, dear Catholic, please be praying for God to reveal the truth to you, and pray also for the courage to respond to the truth shown to you through His Word. In the mean time I challenge you to read the Gospel of John and the Book of Romans and pray and ask God to open your eyes to see the truth, because reading God’s Word is truly all that you need in order to know the truth.
RELATED VIDEOS
Biblical Christianity is being replaced with a counterfeit spirituality where manifestations of evil spirits can clearly be seen. Here is an example of how important and truly necessary it is to pray for discernment and to test everything that is said and done by those in ministry against God’s Word. (Acts 17:11)
Heidi Baker calling down fire: ‘Heidi Baker’s Demonic Impartations’
As Roger Oakland documents in his presentation in the video below, the “spirit” which is manifesting in many churches today is not the Holy Spirit at all, but rather an unholy spirit:
YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN READING THE FOLLOWING
WHAT WOMEN NEED TO BE AWARE OF CONCERNING HARVEST BIBLE CHAPEL’S UPCOMING WOMEN’S RETREAT
ADDITIONAL UPDATE ADDED 1/31/16 7:14 P.M. CONCERNING LEVI LUSKO BELOW
How certain are you that you could never be deceived? If you read and study God’s Word and have learned how important it is to test the teachings and actions of every Christian pastor, teacher, and speaker that you listen to against Scripture, then the likelihood of you being led into deception is pretty low. However, if you still have not learned that our trust is to be in God alone and not in any pastor or teacher, and if you only look to men (or women) for the truth of God’s Word instead of relying on the Holy Spirit to lead you into all truth, then I am sorry to say that you have a very high chance of being deceived. We must never forget the many warnings in Scripture about spiritual deception, false teachers, doctrines of devils and apostasy in the last days –no matter how many years someone has been teaching or preaching God’s Word!
Here are two examples that I’d like to bring to your attention in order to show you why it is so very important for us as Christians to pray for discernment, and why we must always ‘test all things’ and ‘examine the Scriptures daily to see if what is being said (by those who claim to speak for God) is true.’ (1 Thessalonians 5:21,22, Acts 17:11)
1) In November or December of 2015 as I was listening to a particular Priscilla Shirer message in order to test what she was saying in light of Scripture, the following video that was in the sidebar on YouTube caught my attention:
Since I have never heard Sarah Jakes (daughter of T D Jakes, a known Modalist) preach before, I decided to listen to her message, as well. She entitled her message “The Displaced Crown,” and the text that she based her message on was Luke 1:45, which says:
“And blessed is she that believed, for there shall be a performance of those things which were told to her from the Lord.”
Sarah Jakes said all of the following within the first five minutes of her message:
“Just to give you all a little bit of background as to how I came to this message, I was studying in Mark, and there’s this part in Mark where Jesus has healed a leper, and he tells the leper, “Go straight to the priest. Don’t tell anyone what I’ve done, just go straight to the priest, and the leper goes and tells everyone as people do as soon as you tell them don’t, you know…keep a secret.”
“So I’m studying this text why is it that Jesus didn’t want anyone to know about the gift? Because at this point, I mean, He knows what He’s been called to do, He knows that there will be masses of people who are drawn to Him, and I wonder why He didn’t want anyone to know. So I’m reading, how did he get this courage to stay focused on the purpose in spite of the people, and to stay focused on what God has called Him to do in spite of the crowd that would eventually surround Him.”
“And so, it’s Mother’s Day, and so I always feel like a lot of good things that reside in us come from our mothers, and so I went back into studying Mary and how He developed this purpose and this focus and this vision. And it really challenged my heart…”
At this point she shared how she became pregnant at the age of thirteen and had her son at the age of fourteen, and then continues her message by saying:
“…So I’m studying this text about Mary, and above all I wanted to know, how did she teach Him to not be ashamed of who He was and who he came from, because I’m sharing my story all across the world now, and I have my own son…”
“And so, but I just wondered like from a practical mothering standpoint, and it actually prompted… I think it’s going to be my third book…I want to write this book called, Dear Mary, where I ask her these questions like, “Dear Mary, How did you teach Him to be courageous? How did you teach Him to trust His purpose? Because…at the end of the day, when I got pregnant at thirteen, I carried a lot of shame and a lot of guilt, but I think it had more to do with what people thought about me, and what I thought about myself, and then I wanted him to be proud that I was his mother. And I didn’t know if he could be proud that I was his mother, with everyone saying negative things about me. (Brief pause) I’ve never talked about it in front of him, so I might cry.”
“But, um…the difficult part about raising a child who you want to stay focused on purpose and to be courageous, is that at the end of the day you know at one point they’re going to have to withstand hearing the whispers of other people. And how do you share your truth, when you’re afraid of hearing your truth yourself? How can you teach your child to love and accept who they are and where they come from, if you’re still struggling yourself? And so I’m looking at Mary, and I’m like, “How did you do this, how did you teach…how did you let him go into this world where you knew He would be criticized, you knew He would be crucified? But still He managed to stay focused on who He was?” She could have built a lie. She could have told Him Joseph was His father, and He could have gone into the world and never known who He really was.”
Did you discern how a Christian could easily be led astray if they are not grounded in God’s Word and instead become captivated by her touching story and her sweet and gentle demeanor? As I mentioned earlier, the portion that I shared with you above was only from the first five minutes of her message! So many concerns came to mind as I listened to her entire message. How about you?
Here are just a few of the many questions and concerns that came to mind as I listened to the first five minutes:
–Will her book Dear Mary be similar to Sarah Young’s Devotional, Jesus Calling? In other words, will she write Mary’s replies to her questions in first person voice?
–Will she actually give answers to her questions that she presents to Mary as she writes her book? Or will she merely speculate?
–Since Scripture is rather silent concerning Mary, if she does give clear answers to her questions, will she then claim that she heard from Mary herself?
–If she does receive/provide answers to her questions, then it will be considered new revelations, which will be unbiblical since the canon is closed. Yet, how many Christians will still go out and buy her book? Sadly, since I have been told that many follow Sarah Jakes, there will be many who will probably choose to buy her book.
–Will more Christians be drawn to Mary and be led down the road that is leading Christians to Rome because of her book, and also due to the fact that many pastors and teachers are calling for unity with the Catholic church? (This thought strongly motivates me to finish reading the last 300 or so pages of my Catechism of the Catholic Church book so that I can finally write my post in which, Lord willing, I will be comparing the teachings of the CCC to God’s Word, the Bible, in order to warn Christians of Catholicism’s many unbiblical teachings that are deceiving many precious Catholics –including my family).
–Can Christians hear from listening to her message how she is glorifying Mary by saying it was what she did that kept Jesus focusing on His purpose and what He was called to do? Where can she find any Scriptural basis for saying such a thing?
–Can Christians discern while listening to Sarah Jakes’ message how she completely loses sight of the fact that Mary and Joseph were baffled at the response that Jesus gave them when they found Him in the temple? (Luke 2:41-50 See below under Related Scriptures). That portion of Scripture, (among others such as Matthew 12:47-49) shows that Mary oftentimes lost sight of Jesus’ mission, and that He was fully aware of who He was and what His purpose was without any help from Mary.
–Will Christians have the ability to discern that Jesus is basically being stripped of His deity by some of the things that she has said?
–How many Christians will be filled with deep concern when they hear her say that if it wasn’t for what Mary said and did, then Jesus could have gone into the world and never known who He really was?
Those are just some of the many serious questions to ponder concerning what Sarah Jakes said in her message!
Now on to the second thing that I would like to bring to your attention:
2) Harvest Bible Chapel Rolling Meadows had Levi Lusko, pastor of FreshLife Church in Montana, as their guest pastor on Saturday and Sunday, January 2nd and 3rd of 2016.
As heartbreaking and as devastating as it must have been, and still continues to be, that Levi and his wife lost their precious five year old daughter, Lenya, when she died just five days before Christmas in 2012 after having a severe asthma attack, there are a few things that those of you who attend Harvest Bible Chapel — and all of you — need to be aware of concerning Levi Lusko in regards to the conferences that he takes part in, the company that he keeps, and the false teachers that he promotes. Just a little further below you will see how he is endorsing these men, who are also pastors, through his tweets and retweets. Men such as: Ed Young, Mark Batterson, Brian Houston, Carl Lentz, Steven Furtick, and more.
In this post you will also find many videos on these men so as to provide evidence as to why they are false teachers.
Let’s take a look at this first tweet. At first glance it seems like Levi Lusko took part in a Christian conference and did some good preaching.
However, listen to a little of what he said at this conference in the 2 minute and 42 second video below, as well as the next very short video of the highlights of this conference to see if everything was Biblical and glorifying to God:
As you can see by this next tweet, Levi Lusko preached the first message in the new series of messages on Influence at Ed Young’s church:
In the beginning of the video below you will hear Levi Lusko say some of the following:
“It’s an enormous honor and a privilege to be with you. This church has made such an impact in our hearts, in our lives, in our ministry.”
“You guys are making a difference far more than you know around the world through the influence of this house, and the way that Pastor Ed and Lisa have pioneered for twenty six years so faithfully continually pushing the envelope with consistency, trusting God, stepping out in new ways, investing in young leaders…” (Emphasis is mine).
(Yes. In spite of the fact that it is unscriptural for a woman to be a pastor according to 1 Timothy 2:12-14, Pastor Ed Young’s wife is also the pastor of their church).
In case some of you are not aware of who Ed Young is, these videos will give you a pretty good idea:
You can also read these articles about Ed Young which were written by the late Pastor Ken Silva who earnestly contended for the faith until the very end:
Levi Lusko will also be one of the speakers at Ed Young’s CREATIVE CHURCH CONFERENCE (C3 Conference) coming up on February 10th and 11th 2016:
Another guest speaker at the C3 Conference will be Bil Cornelius who wrote the following book along with Bill Easum. Both men are pastors, but sadly, the title of their book will demonstrate once again, just how many pastors are losing sight of the fact that they are to simply be faithful to preach the Word of God, and it is God alone who will be the one who will grow the church. (Acts 2:47) Instead they see “…the need for an unhesitant pursuit of excellence in all areas of the church’s ministry, and the requirement that you picture an audacious vision for your church and live into that vision.”
As you can see from the following two tweets, Levi Lusko is not only promoting Mark Batterson, who is the Lead Pastor of National Community Church and author of the highly controversial book, The Circle Maker, but also he is promoting Brian Houston, who is the pastor of Hillsong Church in Australia, home of the worship group, Hillsong United. He is also promoting Carl Lentz who is the focus of Brian Houston’s tweet that Levi Lusko retweeted. (Please see the many videos that I added concerning all three of these pastors under Related Videos so that you can become aware of the valid concerns that many have about these pastors).
Here we see him promoting Pastor Steven Furtick of Elevation Church in North Carolina:
If the name Jefferson Bethke doesn’t ring a bell, this may help. His video Why I Hate Religion But Love Jesus went viral:
However, if you read the following article by Lighthouse Trails, you will discover his real message, and realize the extreme importance of always praying for discernment:
As you can see by the next tweet, he is totally recommending Pastor Craig Groeschel’s book to everyone:
Here’s some information on Pastor Craig Groeschel. In the video below, Chris Rosebrough of FIGHTING FOR THE FAITH, does a sermon review on Craig Groeschel’s sermon based upon his previous…new book. (Hmm. Sound familiar?).
As you can see from the following tweet, Levi Lusko took part in Passion 2016 where Christian leaders (that many have valid concerns about) such as Ravi Zacharias, Christine Caine, and John Piper, also spoke. Up to 40,000 young adults were said to have gathered for this event:
Below you will find a video Playlist of all of the messages given at Passion 2016 for those of you who are interested in listening to them and testing them in light of Scripture. However, I suggest that you listen a.s.a.p., because normally they only allow them to remain public for a very limited amount of time before they become private:
At the link below starting at the 39 min. and 07 second mark, you can hear Chris Rosebrough give a Biblical analysis of the 6th session of Passion 2016 concerning Louie Giglio’s message. He also gives a Biblical analysis of Christine Caine’s message starting at the 01:08:19 mark. (For those of you who are interested, Chris Rosebrough analyzes a message that Beth Moore gave on TBN at the 50:12 min. mark in the following program, as well).
In this next tweet we discover that Levi Lusko also preached at the Hillsong Church located in Los Angeles, where Benjamin Houston (son of Brian Houston) and his wife Lucille are the Lead Pastors.
The following tweet raised a red flag since I am a former Catholic, and Catholicism refers to Jesus as a “Victim” in the Sacrifice of the Mass. However, God’s Word clearly shows us that Jesus gave His live willingly! (John 10:17,18) (Also read Hebrews 10:5-10)
"The power to go from VICTIM to VICTOR is contained in 3 words: HE IS RISEN." @louiegiglio#passion2016
Levi Lusko preached at Holy Trinity Brompton in England where Nicky Gumbel is one of the leaders. In this video, Levi Lusko briefly makes a comment encouraging people there to get more involved in Alpha, a course that is unbiblical and strongly promoted at Holy Trinity Brompton (as well as Willow Creek Church in Chicago and many other churches) and leading many Christians into Roman Catholicism. (See videos below under Related Videos to learn more about the Alpha course and Nicky Gumbel).
Levi Lusko also preached at Steven Furtick’s Elevation Church:
As Steven Furtick introduced Levi Lusko he said something that was quite revealing and very troubling. In part he said the following:
“His new book, Through The Eyes Of A Lion, is here; it’s available. I want everybody to get one.”
“He shared some of this with our church before, and it was one of the most remarkable weekends we’ve had in the history of our church, and I said, “Bro you gotta come back. You gotta preach this book to our people. I want the message to get out. I want everybody watching on line to get this story in their heart…to get faith in their heart.”
Please don’t think that I am being nit-picky or insensitive, because when you have a man who is a preacher saying to another preacher to preach his book, having a desire for everybody watching online to “get faith in their heart,” when God’s Word says to “Preach the Word,” (2 Timothy 4:1-4) and that “faith comes byhearing, and hearing by the Word of God,” (Romans 10:17), that is a clear indication of a serious problem!
UPDATE 1/31/16 Chris Rosebrough just did a review this past Friday of one of Levi Lusko’s sermons that truly raises some seriousred flags because he says in his message that “Jesus had suicidal thoughts in His head.” You can listen to a portion of Levi Lusko’s message entitled Terror By Night – Paper Tigers, and Chris’ review of his message starting at the 00:38:55 minute mark at the link below. (You may also be interested in listening to his review of Beth Moore’s (unbiblical) message entitled, Make Jesus the Romance of Your Life that starts at the 00:57:34 minute mark which comes right after his review of Levi Lusko’s message).
A very important thing that we as Christians must always remember is that when we listen to someone who shares something about their lives that begins to deeply touch our hearts, we must never allow ourselves to be moved by our emotions in such a way that we end up becoming desensitized to the point where we are no longer alert and on guard against anything unbiblical they might say or do. If we allow our emotions to be in control instead of God’s Holy Spirit, it is then that we could easily become deceived and led astray.
Take the video of Sarah Jakes, for example. While it is very commendable that she made the choice to give life to her son when she found out that she was pregnant at the tender age of thirteen, and that in time she was able to rise above the shame and the rejection that she felt because of how other Christians treated her due to the wrong choices that she made, if Christians are moved by sympathy for her or admiration of her when they listened to her speak, then they may have missed some very disturbing things that she said that should have raised some serious red flags if you listened to her message. And if you caught many of the things that she said, and became filled with concern, then, well done; you are very discerning!
Another important thing to remember is:
Never simply accept the fact that your pastor has approved of the pastors and teachers that he is allowing to speak at your church. Do your own research to make sure that they are Biblically sound teachers of God’s Word, or you may end up being deceived by their teachings if you choose to buy their books or listen to their messages or the teachers that they endorse through their tweets on Twitter, or their comments on Facebook.
Here are the most important questions to ask yourself:
Is the pastor who is the guest speaker preaching Jesus Christ? Is his message solely based on a certain Biblical text? Or does his message focus more on his life or his experiences with just Scriptures added here and there?
Levi Lusko’s message was truly inspiring and deeply moving, but we must always remember the command given in Scripture how it is the Word of God, Jesus Christ, and the good news of the gospel that is supposed to be preached:
“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” (2 Timothy 4:1-4)
“For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.” (1 Corinthians 1:17)
“For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16)
“For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves, your servants for Jesus’ sake.” (2 Corinthians 4:5)
Thank you very much for stopping by and taking time out of your relaxing weekend (at least I hope it is) to read some of my posts and poems.
God Bless You
~Mary/Living4HisGlory
RELATED SCRIPTURES
“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; being made so much better than the angels, as He hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said He at any time, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to me a Son? And again, when He bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, He saith, “And let all the angels of God worship Him.” (Hebrews 1:1-6)
“Wherefore when He cometh into the world, He saith, “Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared Me: in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.” Above when He said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; then said He, “Lo, I come to do thy will, O God.” He taketh away the first, that He may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:5-10)
“Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and His mother knew not of it. But they, supposing Him to have been in the company, went a day’s journey; and they sought Him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they found Him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking Him. And it came to pass, that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. And when they saw Him, they were amazed: and His mother said unto Him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? Behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And He said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.” (Luke 2:41-50)
“While He yet talked to the people, behold, His mother and His brethren stood without, desiring to speak with Him. Then one said unto Him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with Thee. But He answered and said unto him that told him, Who is My mother? And who are My brethren? And He stretched forth His hand toward His disciples, and said, Behold my Mother and My brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of My Father which is in heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother.” (Matthew 12:46-50)
“Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I lay down My life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.” (John 10:17,18)
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” (1 Timothy 4:1)
“But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. (2 Peter 2:1)
“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)
“Be sober; be vigilant; because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)
“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21,22)
“For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” (Acts 20:26-31)
1) The unbiblical nature of the Alpha Course which Levi Lusko briefly mentioned, but nonetheless promoted when he spoke at Holy TrinityBrompton in England, which is responsible for leading many Christians into Catholicism.
2) How Catholicism is being promoted through the unity and oneness that is taking place when men of God begin to make compromises, and how many Christians are being lured into Catholicism by experienced based teachings which are being promoted at many churches today.
(POST UPDATED MONDAY 1/18/16 1:51 P.M., 3:27 P.M., AND 9:43 P.M. THEN AGAIN ON THURSDAY 1/21/16 8:27P.M. ).
UPDATED Saturday 1/23/16 8:58 P.M. After working on this post for over 10 hours today by adding a lot of information concerning Levi Lusko’s tweets.
UPDATED 8:46 A.M. Sunday 1/24/16 Added video of Steven Furtick, Hey Haters and two Ed Young videos.
UPDATED 4:34 P.M. Sunday 1/24/16 Added more information concerning Levi Lusko’s tweets and videos of the Passion 2016 Conference.
UPDATED AND COMPLETED 8:35 P.M. SUNDAY 1/24/16
UPDATED SUNDAY 1/24/16 10:29 P.M. ADDED HILLSONG’S VERSION OF SILENT NIGHT
“The One who knows you better and loves you more than any person on the planet is inviting you to a weekend with Him like no other!”
So says the above invitation to all women who attend Harvest Bible Chapel. How could a woman pass up an invitation when it is presented to her in such an alluring manner? After all, what woman would turn down an invitation from –God?
But let’s take a closer look at what else this invitation says. Notice what is included in their camp activities…“meditation stations.”
What comes to mind when anyone uses the term “meditation stations” is what I have seen in videos that shows what takes place at churches that are involved in the Emerging/Emergent Church Movement. They have sectioned off areas where prayer altars have been set up for those who attend such gatherings, so that the participants can pause and reflect or meditate, such as the prayer/meditation station pictured below.
On April 2, 2010 when I was still attending Harvest Bible Chapel Rolling Meadows, their Good Friday service was set up in a similar manner. There was a station where a six or seven foot cross was laying flat on a table so that each person could write their name on the cross with a marker as a reminder that Jesus died in our place, and another station where a video continuously played featuring a doctor who shared in great detail, the effects that flogging and crucifixion had on the human body.
There was also another station with tables set up that had a crown of thorns, so that you could feel how sharp the thorns were and reflect on how Jesus must have felt when it was forced upon His head, as well as a whip that was recreated to be like the one that was used on Jesus that had leather strips and sharp metal pieces at the ends which would tear at the skin of the one who was to be crucified, and there were also long nails like those that were used in the painful process of crucifixion on display, accompanied by a small sign that said, “Touch.”
In another station there was an artist who sat drawing a scene related to Jesus’ death. Everything was set up in such a way that they caused you to engage all of your senses.
I must admit that it was a very moving experience, but that was the problem. Because even though it did cause me to reflect upon the pain that Jesus endured, I couldn’t stop thinking of the similarities of these stations that were set up and the stations that I saw in the many videos that I had seen concerning the Emergent Church Movement and how everything is geared towards the worshipers having an experience with God by having them see, touch, smell, taste, and hear things. I left that night feeling very troubled.
What I truly enjoyed were the Good Friday services that they had in the past where all that you did was either come into the worship center where quiet Christian music was being played and there was an atmosphere of reverence as different Scriptures were shown on a screen at the front of the church and you could stay for as long as you wanted and leave in silence as you walked out to your car. Or there were other years when you would just come into the worship center and reflect on the Scriptures that were projected onto the screen to prepare your heart for a drama of the reenactment of the crucifixion, or the days leading up to it, and hear God’s Word being read. But that Friday night in April of 2010 simply added to the concerns that I already had because of my awareness of the dangers of the Emergent Church Movement in which there is a moving away from Scriptural truth and instead the focus is more upon having experiences with God.
For those of you who are not familiar with what the Emergent Church Movement is, when time allows please watch this video, as well as the video Playlist under Related Videos:
Now back to focusing on the women’s retreat and I’ll tie all of this together for you:
The speaker for Harvest Bible Chapel’s women’s retreat is Shannon Milholland. When I searched YouTube hoping to find a video of a conference that she had spoken at in the past so that I could test what she said against Scripture, there were none to be found.
So I began to do research on her to see if she was involved in SpiritualFormation, Contemplative Prayer, Lectio Divina, or some form of meditation since meditation stations were being set up at this retreat that she would be speaking at. Here is what I discovered:
First I found an old comment that Shannon had made on a post by Robert D Smith who I discovered is a motivational speaker. He wrote a book called “20,000 DAYS ANDCOUNTING” which tells you to figure out how many days that you have been alive so far, and to live the rest of your days one moment at a time and to make them count.
After reading some of the INFORMATION ABOUT ROBERT D SMITH’S BOOK ON AMAZON, it reminded me of Steven Furtick’sCRASH THE CHATTERBOX because of how he talks about changing your negative thinking. Robert D Smith also addresses how to talk to yourself in one of his blog posts by suggesting that you:
“Write down what you say.” “Read it over and over again. Say it aloud 30 times before you go to bed. Then say it 30 times first thing in the morning. Or when you are taking a shower.” (SOURCE)
He speaks about God in some of his writings, but instead of telling his readers to renew their minds with the truth of God’s Word, his advise sounds more like positive confession teachings that can be found in the Word of FaithMovement, or the mantra’s uttered over and over by those involved in the New Age Movement, and not like Christianity at all.
In Robert D Smith’s book under ‘Section 1 Point 4’ of his Notes section, it shows that he quoted Norman Vincent Peale who promoted positive thinking and whose New Age teachings strongly influenced Rick Warren. (Read THIS ARTICLE by LIGHTHOUSE TRAILS RESEARCH to learn more).
While there was nothing wrong per se with Shannon Milholland’s comment that she made on Robert D Smith’s interview post, it was concerning to see that she was interested in this type of book and author.
I decided to check if she was on Pinterest to see what her interests were and discovered the following:
This is a quote from one of her books entitled, Jesus & My Orange Juice. Is it possible that she also promotes “hearing from God” as Beth Moore and Priscilla Shirer do, who are both highly promoted at Harvest Bible Chapel?
Is it also possible that Shannon Milholland practices yoga?
Below is a quick capture of the most concerning information that I found. I will explain in detail just a little further in this post.
Most of you are already aware of the serious concerns that many have with Steven Furtick. If not, please consider reading through the following previous posts that I wrote about him which are listed HERE:
Also consider watching the Playlist that I posted below under Related Videos which features an interview of Steven Furtick by Lysa TerKeurst, (which is all that I feel is necessary to say about her at this time to make my point that she is not one who should be promoted since she strongly endorses Steven Furtick), and I also added other videos to that Playlist in order to help you see the concerns that many have about his teachings.
Now, notice in the quick capture above that Shannon Milholland also recommends a book by Mary DeMuth. Further below you will see a quick capture of a portion of AN ARTICLE POSTED ON LIGHTHOUSE TRAILSentitled, Dear Dr. Charles Stanley, What Are You Trying To Tell Us? Are You A Contemplative? In part, it states the following:
“In the In Touch article, DeMuth tells readers to visit “prayer rooms – sacred spaces where you can experience different aspects of praying.” DeMuth tells readers to “[r]esearch online to find a prayer room near you.” Lighthouse Trails goes on to make the point that by doing so, “One of the first entries you’ll come up with…” is a website “where a higher consciousness and New Age thought is promoted.” (SOURCE)
This is the clearest evidence that shows Shannon Milholland is endorsing someone — Mary DeMuth — who is involved in these mystical practices even if she is personally not involved with them, but at this point I still cannot be certain if she is or not.(SOURCE)
Although it is uncertain at this point in time what will actually take place at next weekend’s women’s retreat at Camp Harvest, since Harvest Bible Chapel Rolling Meadows promotes Beth Moore and Priscilla Shirer as well as their Bible studies, and since they are both known to promote spiritual mysticism and teaching how to hear God speak to you, as I demonstrated through the information that I shared with you in some of the previous posts that I have written, (such as BETH MOORE LIVE SIMULCAST – WILL YOUR CHURCH BE BRINGING BETH MOORE TO YOUR COMMUNITY, as well as HARVEST BIBLE CHAPEL LEADERSHIP, CHRISTIAN LEADERS, AND THE LACK OF BIBLICAL DISCERNMENT), and since it is possible that Shannon Milholland may lead women into some form of Contemplative, meditative prayer exercise as demonstrated by the information that I provided for you in this post, and because of the fact that Harvest Bible Chapel has made it known that they will be having “meditation stations” at this retreat, I thought that it was very important to try and alert all of you women who are considering going to this retreat so that you can be aware of the possible spiritual dangers that you may encounter, and give you an opportunity to change your mind and choose not to attend this retreat.
One thing is very clear though. Spiritual mysticism is becoming increasingly prevalent in many churches today, and leading many Christians down the spiritually deceptive contemplative path that leads one to embrace the unbiblical teachings of Roman Catholicism. Here is just one example of what is happening at Willow Creek Church in Barrington IL where Bill Hybels is pastor. Keep in mind that James MacDonald is good friends with Bill Hybels:
Women of Harvest Bible Chapel, what is being presented to you as a supposed “divine invitation” and a “regret-free decision” may end up being the complete opposite. If you accept this invitation and what takes place at this retreat is anything like what is taking place in many other churches these days, I can tell you that it will be a regretful decision, because if you end up going you may be led into participating in spiritually deceptive practices that are akin to what takes place in the world of the occult. If you ignore this warning and the many others who warn about these very same things, you will gradually continue to be led down a spiritually deceptive path.
Some Christians believe that a Christian can never be deceived. However, that simply is not true. When the disciples asked Jesus what the signs of His coming would be, the very first thing that Jesus said was,
“Watch out that no one deceives you.” (Matthew 24:4)
Consider reading the following personal testimony of a dear Sister-in-Christ who was deceived by these very things that I have been warning you about when she was introduced to Spiritual Formation by the teaching pastor at her former church:
This post goes out to all of you as a strong warning that I hope you will seriously take to heart! If you truly desire an encounter with God, you don’t need to look any further than in the pages of your own Bible. Save yourself $100.00, and, if possible, get up very early in the morning before your husband and your children wake up, take your Bible with you and either sit out in your yard, or take a walk to a nearby park as the beauty of God’s handiwork begins to display pinks and reds across the eastern sky as the sun begins to rise, and spend some one on one time with God by reading His Word and praying and praising Him for the Mighty and thrice Holy God that He is.
As JUSTIN PETERS has been known to say quite frequently:
“If you want to hear God speak to you, read your Bible. If you want to hear God speak audibly, read it out loud.”
Thank you for stopping by and taking time out of your busy day to read some of my posts and poems.
God Bless You
~Mary Dalke/Living4HisGlory
Former member of Harvest Bible Chapel Rolling Meadows from June 1997 – January 2012
RELATED SCRIPTURES
“As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?” Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you.” (Matthew 24:3,4)
“Therefore I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” (Acts 20:26-31)
“The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.” (1 Timothy 4:1)
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith…” (1 Peter 5:8,9a)
“Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” (Ephesians 5:11)
RELATED VIDEOS – LEARN TO DISCERN
LYSA TERKEURST INTERVIEWS STEVEN FURTICK
ROGER OAKLAND OF UNDERSTAND THE TIMES – THE EUCHARISTIC CHRIST & NEW EVANGELIZATION, THE EMERGING CHURCH: ROAD TO ROME & ROAD TO BABYLON
(Updated 9/8/15) Last year I discovered after the fact, that my former church for over 14 1/2 years, Harvest Bible Chapel Rolling Meadows, hosted a ‘Beth Moore simulcast’ at their Lake Zurich location:This didn’t surprise me, since Beth Moore’s Bible studies were always highly promoted while I attended Harvest (June 1997-January 2012), and I know for a fact that they still are. But since the simulcast had already taken place, I decided not to write about it.
However, two weeks ago I began to wonder if there was going to be a Beth Moore simulcast this year, and if so, I also wondered if HBC would once again be sponsoring it. Thanks to Glenn Chatfield who writes atTHE WATCHMAN’S BAGPIPES, I discovered while reading his post,‘RANDOM ABERRATIONS, APOSTASIES, AND HERESIES’, that indeed there is going to be “another simulcast for churches across the nation.” After searching to see if HBC would once again be one of the churches that would be sponsoring this event, this is what I found:
The video I originally saw on YouTube was removed by the owner. Search for ‘Audacious Book Trailer’ and you’ll be able to play this video.
Will your church be bringing Beth Moore to your community on September 12, 2015? If so, please take time to listen and to read the very important information that I have added to this post for you below. Some of the following videos are excerpts from ‘James Robison’s Awaken Now Conference’ that took place in January of 2014.
Yes, Beth Moore is a very gifted speaker, but I simply ask you to please put aside the feelings that you have about her, and pray and ask God to give you discernment before watching the videos below, as well as before you read the articles that I added for you under Further Reading. If you plan on signing up for this simulcast, please make certain that you pray for discernment, and be a Berean (Acts 17:11) and test all that she says against God’s Word.
Beth Moore: “We so desperately need, so desperately need a fresh awakening…”
Beth Moore: “Be prepared for scoffers.”
In the following video starting at the 2:38-3:39 minute mark, you will hear Beth Moore talk about the scoffers who will come and speak out against the awakening and downpours; the outpouring that she believes God is telling her is coming:
“What God began to show me, is that it would not just come from the…mean spirited. The scoffers…I believe that God put on my heart…please test the spirit, pray and see if this…is confirmed to you in prayer and in the study of the Word.. I believe that He placed it on my heart that the scoffers will have an alternative answer for everything; an alternative for every single thing we see…there will be an alternative. They will not see it as the hand of God; an alternate answer. Unity will be called defection. Brokenness will be called instability. Grace will be called compromise. And the genuinely prophetic will be called false teaching. You see if this does not happen.”
In other words, Beth Moore is claiming that she is receiving extra Biblical revelation from God, and those of us who stand for Biblical truth and test things in light of Scripture will be the ones looked at as “the scoffers” if something does come and we see the need to warn other Christians that this “outpouring” is not of God because it does not line up with God’s Word. Those who choose to listen to her message and do not test her words against Scripture are having their minds manipulated/prepared to see those of us who oppose this so-called outpouring from God as the ones who are in the wrong.
Today, more than ever before, we must be certain that we are followers of Jesus Christ, and not a follower of any man (or woman) and their ministry. We must know the voice of our Shepherd and follow Him and Him alone, because spiritual deception will become so intense that only those of us who are truly following Him and reading His Word and are aware of the many spiritually deceptive traps waiting to lure us into its grips, will be protected from being deceived.
Could the following videos be an indication of the kind of “unity” and “grace” that “God put on her heart?”
When time allows, please consider listening to the information presented in the following Playlist which compares the teachings of Catholicism to Biblical Christianity. I hope and pray that you will then realize what many of us have already come to realize, which is that there can be no unity with Catholics because many of their teachings not only contradict God’s Word, but also the Sacrifice of the Mass denies the sufficiency of Jesus’ once for all propitiatory sacrifice.
I was a former Catholic who attended twelve years of Catholic school, went through Catechism classes, made my First Holy Communion, was Confirmed, and went to Mass thousands of times. As I began to read the Catholic Bible and compare the teachings of the Catechism of the Catholic Church to the Catholic Bible, I came to an understanding of the sufficiency of Jesus’ death as completely satisfying the wrath of God that He had towards me because of my sins. The joy that filled my heart after God helped me to see what Jesus accomplished as He suffered and died in my place, was buried, and arose again, made me shudder in horror as God opened my ears to hear Jesus being called a ‘victim’ during the Sacrifice of the Mass. Fear and bondage kept me there for another year, but the truth of God’s Word set me free, and His peace released me from the fear that held me in its grip for the many years that I was a Catholic. It is my prayer that many Catholics will come to know the truth, and that the truth of His Word will set them free and fill them with joy and peace, as well. (If you’d like to read the extremely long version of my testimony, just click on the ‘MyTestimony‘ Category at the top of my blog).
Not only is the line between genuine and counterfeit Christianity being blurred, but also New Age/New Spirituality practices are being welcomed into the church and are being fully embraced by many Christians who are unaware of the fact that these “new ways to pray” are leading them down a path to spiritual deception. The only way that we as Christians can tell the difference is to read and study God’s Word so that we will know it so well that we will be able to discern truth from error as soon as we hear it.
Jesus warned about false teachers and of the spiritual deception that would take place in the last days, and His Word also says that it will come even from among those who say they are believers. (Acts 20:25-31) So why is it that many today fail or even refuse to test the messages of their favorite Bible teachers such as Beth Moore in light of Scripture as we are shown to do in His Word? (Acts 17:11) (1 Thessalonians 5:21,22)
Besides knowing God’s Word very well, it’s also very important to be ‘aware of Satan’s devices ‘ (2 Corin. 11:2b) so that we will not be led down one of the many spiritually deceptive paths that are causing multitudes of Christians to become deceived today. That’s why I am so thankful for ministries such as Lighthouse Trails Research, Herescope, Deception inthe Church, and many others ministries that expose things such as Contemplative Prayer,Spiritual Formation, Lectio Divina, and the many other unbiblical, mystical practices that are being presented to Christians today as ways to connect with God on a more personal and intimate level.
The terms “awakening” and “awaken” as well as the call for ‘unity’ that Beth Moore and others who profess to be Christians are speaking about, are also echoing throughout the world of the occult. Below you will find some examples of how these terms are permeating our world today. The unity that they speak of is not in any way related to the “unity” that Jesus spoke of in John 17, but rather a unity in order to achieve higher levels of consciousness related to the New Age Movement, in which the ultimate goal is to ‘awaken’ you to your own divinity. (Lord willing, I will be writing about this in great detail in an upcoming post).
The following video plays on a person’s emotions and speaks about having a ‘spiritual awakening.’ Roger Ingram, who created this video says:
“One night I decide to dedicate myself completely to answering my biggest question: Does God really exist? Is there anything truly greater in this world?”
While it is true that many today have those questions, sadly this video go on to briefly share about the experience that some people had in their ‘spiritual awakening.’ Obviously none of them were Biblical, and all of them focused on occultic practices such as ‘out of body experiences’ and experiences that brought about feelings of ‘pure love.’
In these videos, Andrew Strom shares how the Kundalini awakening that those involved in the New Age Movement speaks of, experience the same feelings of pure love when the serpent power that is said to lie at the base of the spine is awakened:
Christian writer and speaker,Warren B Smith, who was once deeply involved in the New Age Movement, gives an excellent teaching on more ways that the New Age Movement is now infiltrating the church by speaking about “oneness” and “unity,” as well as ‘The Shack,’ Contemplative Prayer, and much more, in these videos:
If you’d like to listen to Beth Moore’s full three part message, that she gave at James Robison’s ‘Awaken Now Conference,’ click HERE. Just to let you know, you now have to register before you’re able to play the videos.
Chris Rosebrough of Pirate Christian Radio gives a thought-provoking review of Beth Moore’s “eerie” message that she gave at James Robison’s ‘Awaken Now Conference’ in the following video. Please listen when time allows:
CONCERNING BETH MOORE’S INVOLVEMENT IN MYSTICISM
Below is a screen shot that I captured from a video that clearly shows you what the focus of this conference was by the bold statement that was placed on banners that were hung across the stage. This video has now been removed from YouTube. (UPDATE 9/8/15: See video under Related Videos for another one I recently found). The following video will address this and the fact that during the Passion Conference 2012 the audience was told to “Pause and be still and allow Jesus to speak to you,” and the dangers of seeking to have God ‘speak to us’ when He speaks to us through His written Word. God has already spoken to us through His one and only Son, Jesus Christ –the Word made flesh. (Read Hebrews 1:1-3 and John 1:1-5)
As you can see from the quick capture below, the researchers at Lighthouse Trails have been strongly warning about Beth Moore’s involvement in and promotion of mysticism:
(SOURCE)<– Click here to continue reading much more of this article. When time allows, I hope that you will consider reading many more articles that Lighthouse Trails has on Beth Moore, Contemplative Prayer, Mysticism, and much more, so that you can be well informed and come to realize the urgent need to constantly test all the teachings of everyone who claims to be teaching God’s Word).
If your church is sponsoring Beth Moore’s simulcast, or presenting Beth Moore ‘Bible studies’ for the women at your church, and you share the serious concerns that many of us have about her teachings, consider sharing your valid concerns with the leadership at your church. Be prepared though. I have heard of many women sharing how their valid concerns were ignored when they brought information to back up what they were saying. No matter how they may react to what you say, just remain faithful to ‘earnestly contend for the faith.’
If you have come to the point of placing your trust in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation and live to simply honor Him in all that you do and say and stand for Biblical truth, you will one day hear Him say to you, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” If we keep that in mind, it makes the rejection and loneliness that we sometimes feel from other Christians who refuse to listen to our warnings less painful.
If you have not yet come to the point of placing your trust in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation, I pray that you will take the time to seek God in His Word and ask Him to reveal the truth to you. Your eternity is at stake. There is no second chance after death. There is a heaven and a hell, and Jesus paid your debt to sin in full. God’s Word says that “now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2) Tomorrow is promised to no one.
Do not place your trust in the teachings of men (or women) or of a certain church or religious system. Look to Jesus Christ alone for your salvation, and read His Word alone for the truth that will set you free. Test the teachings of all whom you choose to listen to against God’s Word, because spiritual deception will continue to intensify as the return of Jesus Christ continues to draw closer and closer. Are you ready?
RELATED VIDEOS:
(Added 9/8/15) In this video you will not only see Beth Moore at Passion 2012, the banner that says “Jesus speak to me,” and hear a portion of what many to believe was Lectio Divina, but you will also see more evidence that demonstrate why many Christians have valid concerns about Beth Moore:
Test Joyce Meyer’s teachings against Scripture, and you will find that she is clearly a false teacher:
I added this video to demonstrate to you not only how many others in ministry are speaking about an awakening, but also to ask you to discern if the opening of the Awakening Revival at Celebration Church looks like the beginning of true revival to you:
CATHOLICISM
RELATED SCRIPTURES
“Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (Acts 17:11)
“For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” (Acts 20:27-31)
“But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.” (2 Peter 2:1)
“For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light, It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15)
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from Me you evildoers!’” (Matthew 7:15-23)
“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful Word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. SO He became as much superior to the angels as the name He has inherited is superior to theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.” (Hebrews 1:1-5)
“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” (2 Corinthians 11:3,4)
“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel– which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned. As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!” (Galatians 1:3-9)
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:10-12)
“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,” (Acts 3:19)
“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” (2 Corinthians 7:10)
“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn, and wail. Change your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up.” (James 4:7-10)
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;” (1 Timothy 4:1)
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (2 Timothy 3:16,17-4:1-4)
“But evil men and imposters will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” (2 Timothy 3:13)
Thank you for stopping by and taking time out of your busy day to read some of my posts and poems.
On Sunday, January 5th 2014, James MacDonald enticed his congregation with these words:
“…the biggest miracle that’s ever happened in the history of Harvest Bible Chapel is happening right now.”
Butthen he went on to say that ‘he couldn’t tell them for another three months.’
Then last week Harvest Bible Chapel sent out an email entitled ‘Big News You Need To Hear!’ This is what it said in the final paragraph of that email:
“Last, there’s some big news you need to hear! If Harvest Bible Chapel is your church home, we also have a special ministry update for you this weekend. I wish I could tell you all of it now, and can hardly wait till we share in it together. Trust me–you’ll want to hear this news first hand.”
Since I left Harvest Bible Chapel Rolling Meadows (my church for over 14 1/2 years) at the end of January 2012 right after I heard what took place during the‘Elephant Room 2 Conference’ with T DJakes,I was unable to discover what the “big news” was, and they didn’t include that information on their online service. However, last night I happened to notice the following tweet on Twitter which had the link that led me to the picture and information you see in the ‘quick capture’ that I posted above:
“Does anyone know if this is true?”
After reading the information at that link I was pretty certain that the information was true — as disturbing as it was — but I hesitated to write about it until I could confirm it with certainty. So I began my own Internet search and found the following video of a June 5th 2013 TBN program entitled, ‘Behind the Scenes’ in which you can see the ‘quick capture’ below of former president of TBN, Paul Crouch (who sadly died less than 6 months after that program), shaking hands with James. Upon playing the video I heard Paul Crouch say to James at the 23:13 minute mark:
“We’re gonna have lots to talk about with regards to Chicago Illinois, I have a feeling. You’re a great church there.”
You can watch the video by clicking on the word‘SOURCE’under the ‘quick capture’ below. The portion where James begins talking starts at the 8 minute mark:
This definitely added to the certainty that James is becoming involved with TBN, and then just a few hours ago I noticed that a person who tweets in defense of James replied to the previously mentioned tweet by saying the following, and thus confirming the news concerning TBN and James to be true:
“yes, they talked about it at length in church this past weekend.”
“the elders are behind it and they seem to have thought it through. seems like a good thing for the word to go out.”
“They talked about it at length,” and “they seem to have thought it through. seems like a good thing for the word togo out.” But the question is, ‘Did they seriously pray about it and earnestly seek God for His will? Somehow I don’t think so, because God’s Word clearly warns us about those who preach ‘another gospel’ and ‘another Jesus’ which the prosperity teachings clearly preach.
“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” (2 Corinthians 11:3,4)
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel– which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!” (Galatians 1:6-9)
“Trinity Broadcasting Network — TBN is the world’s largest religious network, delivering the Christian message of hope around the world.”
So says the information that I found after clicking on the link I saw posted on Twitter. Yes, James can reach many people around the world through his program, for sure. And, yes, there are a few — very few– Biblical programs on TBN such as ‘Way of the Master.’ But associating with many pastors and teachers who are known for teaching ‘Word of Faith’ heresy, and airing his ‘Walk in the Word’ program on a station that is known for promoting heresy does not seem like godly wisdom to say the least! (I am assuming that’s the program that TBN will be airing).
**CORRECTION 3-24-14 9:49 A.M.**: It didn’t occur to me when I first wrote this post, but it will probably be their weekend services that are now being live streamed, which will be aired on TBN.
**UPDATE 3-27-14** While listening to their 3-23-14 online service, James confirmed by what he said that it will be ‘Walk In The Word Television.‘ This may, however, include their weekend services, because James had this to say:
“I announced last weekend in church that God has opened a miraculous door for ‘Walk in the Word Television’ to truly touch the world. Plant more churches in more places maybe than any church in our generation has done. Maybe. God knows. But aren’t you astounded –by His grace?”
“God is going to use us like that? You have got to be kidding me! It’s shockingly, outrageously gracious of God to take this thing that goes on between us every weekend and somehow get that to the ends of the earth. I feel immensely unworthy. I’m surprised that you don’t feel the same –if you don’t.”
Looking down at the pulpit, James also read off some serious questions with a sassy tone in his voice, giving the people at Harvest the impression that he was ‘being bombarded by these kind of questions’ from those who attend Harvest. Questions such as:
“How much money are you going to make from this, Pastor James?”
“Then how much do you make on your books?”
“What if I don’t agree with everybody on that channel you’re going on?”
But then as if James was trying to make light of the fact that he was going to be on TBN, he had this to say:
“I don’t agree with everyone in this church. I don’t agree with everyone in my own family.”
Those comments brought laughter from some people in attendance. Shortly after that he read 1 Corinthians 16:9 out loud, which says:
“A wide door for ministry has opened to me and there are many adversaries.”
Then, in part, he went on to say:
“Um good news? Ready for some good news? I made up every one of those questions. Not one single one; I made it all up. And our church is incredibly excited and positive about what’s happening. Isn’t that awesome?”
So for those of you who do have serious concerns about your church being involved with TBN, it’s time for you to express those concerns to the leadership at Harvest because your decision to remain silent is implying that you are in agreement. And if you have the courage to do so, be prepared for the possibility of being called ‘negative’ and ‘divisive’ and possibly labeled as an ‘adversary.’
As for me, even though I left Harvest 2 years ago, I will pray even more for James and for all of you who are still attending Harvest. (End of 3-27-14 UPDATE).
What happened to the Biblical discernment James once had? By associating with the many false teachers that TBN promotes, this can only damage his reputation further than it has already been damaged by the fallout of ER2. *And because T D Jakes was proclaimed at ER2 as having embraced a Biblical understanding of the Trinity, and since T D Jakes was not confronted about the heretical ‘prosperity message’ that he preaches, is James willing to take partial responsibility for those who may be led astray for his failure to properly confront T D Jakes if they also begin to watch T D Jakes and the many other false teachers that are on TBN? Besides T D Jakes, here are just a few of the many other pastors and teachers that are on TBN: Jesse Duplantis, Joel Osteen, Kenneth Copeland, Steven Furtick, Brian Houston, Beth Moore, Joyce Meyer, Benny Hinn, and Marilyn and Sarah Hickey. All of those listed, except for Beth Moore and Steven Furtick have teachings that are saturated with ‘Word of Faith’ heresies. Although Steven Furtickdoes incorporate some‘Wordof Faith’ principles into his teachings, he is more known to distort Scripture and reads himself into many texts of Scripture as he preaches, which is just as unbiblical as the Word of Faith teachings. And Beth Moore promotes the unbiblical practice of ‘Contemplative Prayer’ and also teaches people how to ‘hear God speak,’ thus promoting the false teaching that we can ‘receive ‘direct revelation’ from God,‘ which can lead people to no longer believe in the sufficiency of Scripture. (*This paragraph was updated by just adding *this sentence on 3-27-14)
If you are not aware of what the ‘Word of Faith’ teachings are, I strongly encourage you to watch the following excellent series, ‘A Call for Discernment‘ by Justin Peters. He also has an updated series called, ‘Clouds Without Water.’
Though this is almost but possibly not quite an exact quote, I once heard James say on his ‘Walk in the Word’ program at the end of 2012:
‘The drift to compromise starts out slow and steady.’
And sadly, James is proving this to be completely true. What happened to the man he once was who strongly stood against all the “distortions of the gospel” which includes prosperity teachings?
There was a time when I believe he would have never considered partnering with TBN. But obviously his choice to begin to compromise has caused him to drift further than any of us ever thought was possible.
What kind of reaction did the members and those who attend Harvest Bible Chapelhave to the “big news” that was announced concerning TBN? Were they caught up in the excitement that HBC was attempting to generate through their hyped up emails and hints about the “big news” to come? Or will many begin to leave in droves after coming to the conclusion that this decision to partner with TBN is not something that is honoring to God and to the gospel of Jesus Christ? Time will tell.
“He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.” (John 7:18)
“For they loved praise from men more than praise from God.” (John 12:43)
“Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10)
Please pray for James more than you have ever prayed for him before. Is James seeking to please God? Or is he seeking the acceptance and approval of men? Only God knows his heart, but this just doesn’t sound like a wise decision for him to make.
Maybe God will somehow use this partnership with TBN in James’ life to open his eyes so that he will finally realize just how far he has drifted from standing for solid Biblical truth. At least that is my hope and prayer.
Thank you very much for stopping by and taking time out of your busy day to read some of my posts and poems.
God Bless You
~Mary Dalke/Living4HisGlory/Living For His Glory
* *UPDATED 3-21-14 10:13 A.M.**ADDED MORE SCRIPTURES AND COMPLETED CLOSING THOUGHTS.
YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN READING >WARNING YOU WITH TEARS<WHICH EXPLAINS IN DETAIL WHY I LEFT HARVEST BIBLE CHAPEL ROLLING MEADOWS
In the search for choosing Christian teachers to build up the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-15) it seems that some Christian leaders at Harvest Bible Chapel Rolling Meadows are among the many today who have forgotten the importance of Biblical discernment. Some may believe that since a person is a professing Christian and a gifted and popular speaker and Bible teacher, as well, that their words and teachings must then be trustworthy. But what happened to Biblical discernment and the commands in Scripture that we are to test the words of men — and women — in light of Scripture? (Acts 17:11) Have pastors forgotten their important roles to be shepherds who are to watch over their sheep and how Scripture warns that they are to ‘keep watch over themselves and their flock,’ and that Scripture says that ‘even from our own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them,’ and how we are to ‘be on guard?’ (Acts 20)
Some of those questions — and more — came to mind when, on Sunday, March 9th, 2014, I saw on Harvest BibleChapel Rolling Meadows ‘weekly sermon’ page that they were informing women that a new DVD series by Priscilla Shirer entitled ‘GIDEON: YOUR WEAKNESS GOD’S STRENGTH‘ would be starting soon, as you can see from the ‘screen capture’ below:
Great title, for sure! But this is the question that all of us need to answer: Does everything she teach line up with Scripture? Well, since the reason for writing this post is to warn those at Harvest Bible Chapel (as well as others) about Bible teacher, author, and speaker, Priscilla Shirer, the answer to that question is: No.
In the past I have read some posts written about Priscilla Shirer warning about some of the unbiblical things she teaches, as well as some of the false teachers she associates with, but I couldn’t quite remember all the details, so I decided to do my own investigation by listening to some of her videos so I could then share with you what I found after testing what she said against Scripture. (Acts 17:11)
One thing I learned about her that I wasn’t aware of before, is that her father is Christian Pastor, speaker, and author, Dr.Tony Evans, who also has a radio program on Moody radio. I also discovered that she was one of the speakers at Moody’s‘Founders Week‘ this past February 2014, and that she preached from Chapter 6 of Deuteronomy to a large group of women –and men. (Hmmm. Doesn’t God’s Word say in 1 Timothy 3:14,15, and 2:11-15 that a woman is not to be put in a position of teaching men?) Please consider taking some time to listen to the videos I posted below, and think carefully about what she is saying in light of Scripture and see what conclusions you come to. Yes, she presents herself very well, and holds her audience’s attention, but does she focus on the truth recorded in Scripture? Or does she — at times — share with her predominantly Christian audience something entirely different –and even unbiblical?
First of all, if any of you are not aware of what ‘Contemplative/Centering Prayer‘ is, I would like to ask you to please take the time to read this excellent article written by Pastor Gary Gilleyof Southern View Chapel, so that you are aware of what to look for when you listen to Priscilla Shirer and others (such as Beth Moore) who, in different degrees, promote this unbiblical method of so-called ‘prayer’ that teaches you ‘how to hear ‘God’ speak to you’:
Priscilla Shirer Discusses the 5 Ps of Bible Study.mov
He Speaks To Me – In this video Priscilla says, “ ‘He Speaks To Me’ is about preparing ourselves, positioning ourselves to hear the voice of our Savior.”
Speak Lord
Priscilla Shirer – Founders Week 2014
Priscilla Shirerannouncing being at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church along with Beth Moore and Christine Caine
Priscilla Shirer with Joyce Meyer
An example of Joyce Meyer‘s False Teachings
‘Stewarding the Presence’ – Priscilla Shirer at Brian Houston‘s Hillsong Conference 2011
Chris Rosebrough Sermon Reviews — Warning people about the dangers of Brian Houston:
Priscilla Shirer– along with Beth Moore (another teacher that is highly promoted at Harvest Bible Chapel, and many other churches, as well) and many others — made a DVD entitled,‘BE STILL,’ in which the main message is ‘how to hear from God.’
Time With God – Excerpt from the DVD ‘Be Still’
INFORMATION CONCERNING ‘CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER’ IN THE ‘BE STILL’ DVD:
Though we are not to judge the heart and motives of a Christian, or where they stand concerning their relationship with Jesus Christ, we are told in Scripture that we are to ‘make a right judgment,’ and that we are to ‘examine theScriptures daily to see if what is being said (by those who claim to speak for Christ) is true,’ and how we are to ‘test all things and hold fast to what is true,’ (John 7:24, Acts 17:11, 1 Thessalonians 5:21,22) and we are also told to “earnestly contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.” (Jude 3)
I am sure that most of you have heard the expression, ‘You can’t judge a book by its cover,” but sometimes the title of a book (or video) can be very telling on what an author is trying to convey through their words. With that in mind, please take a look at some of the ‘screen captures‘ of Priscilla Shirer‘sbooks and a comment made by someone who has read her books:
Note that Beth Moore wrote the forward to Priscilla’s following book:
ALL ABOVE QUICK CAPTURES WERE TAKEN FROM AMAZON.COM
As you can see from the list of books that Priscilla reads, some of them are: ‘The Practice of the Presence of God,’ by Brother Lawrence,‘Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home,’ by Richard Foster, and ‘When the Soul Listens‘ by Jan Johnson. All three of these writers heavily promote ‘Contemplative Prayer.’
Here’s a screen shot from Lighthouse Trails Website of Jan Johnson‘s book, ‘When the Soul Listens,’ in which you can clearly see that JanJohnsonindeed teaches‘Contemplative Prayer.’
**ADDED 3-13-14**And in case you are not aware of what the ‘CLOUD OF UNKNOWING‘ is that is mentioned in Jan Johnson’s book as you can see in the ‘quick capture’ above, below you will see another ‘quick capture’ from a post on Lighthouse Trails in which you can clearly see that it is connected with the mystical and unbiblical practice of ‘Contemplative Prayer.’
To continue reading on LIGHTHOUSE TRAILS, click HERE
Sadly, the emphasis todayseems to be growing more and more on having ‘experiences with God’ rather than wanting to take the time to study God’s Word in context and teaching it that way, as well.
**UPDATED 3-13-14 1:22 P.M. Because there is obviously a shift taking place from learning about God through His Wordto seeking to ‘hear God speak,’ it is very obvious now why so many are easily being led into accepting unbiblical and mystical practices such as ‘Contemplative/Centering Prayer.’ But there is no excuse for any Christian to fall for these spiritually deceptive practices if we stay in God’s Word and test everything in light of Scripture and become informed about these unbiblical practices. There are many good websites with great information on these topics. Personally, I highly recommend the writings of: PASTOR GARY GILLEY,LIGHTHOUSE TRAILS,HERESCOPE, and APPRISINGMINISTRIES, because they are Biblical and write in depth about all of these unbiblical practices, as well as expose those who promote them. But as always, please make sure that you test everything against Scripture! (Acts 17:11, 1 Thessalonians 5:21,22)
I am surethat Priscilla is probably a lovely person, but what she sometimes presents in her teachings can be very misleading, and has the potential of leading many Christians away from Biblical truth and into unbiblical ‘new age’ mysticism! To hear a teacher present to you that ‘you can hear God personally speak to you’ is to imply that God’s Word is no longer sufficient,and will lead many away from Biblical truthand into ‘spiritual deception.‘ (Such as Sarah Young is doing through her ‘Jesus Calling‘ devotional).
Harvest Bible Chapel and other Christian leaders must not only make sure that they teach solid Biblical truth, but also they must make sure that the teachers they invite do as well, and that the Bible Studies they present to their people focus on God’s Word and that they believe in the sufficiency of Scripture and teach that God’s Word is all we need to come to know God in a very deep and personal way, and that none of them promote unbiblical mystical practices. [Which reminds me to warn all of you atHBCRMthatJames MacDonaldwill be speaking at aPastor’s Conferencein June entitled‘SHOW US YOUR GLORY,‘along withFrancis Chanand—RickWarren!About this conference we are told that many…
“…have been working, praying and planning to create a meeting where the presence of God is experienced in a life changing powerful way.”(Emphasis is mine).
And sinceRick Warrenpromotes‘Contemplative Prayer,’is itpossible that some of their plans may include unbiblical mystical practices since they desire to ‘experience the presence of God?’ Lord willing, I may write on that after it takes place –if I am somehow able to view that conference. As I mentioned in a couple of my other posts, ‘we are seeing James becoming more and more involved with Rick Warren,’ and that gives many of us good reasons to become seriously concerned and equally motivated to pray even more for James!
Please continue to pray forJames and all those in leadership, not onlyat Harvest Bible Chapel Rolling Meadows, but also for all Christian pastors and teachers. Pray discernment for them and that they would seek God in His Word and not be led astray by those who promote unbiblical ways to “hear from God.”
Pray discernment for all Christians so that they will hunger for God’s Word, and pray that the Holy Spirit will ‘guide them into all truth,’ (John 16:13) so they will not be led into spiritual deception. God’s Word warns us in 2 Timothy 4:3 and 1 Timothy 4:1:
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”
“The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.”
That time is clearly upon us! Please do not be deceived! Please…
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” ( 2 Timothy 2:15)
Thank you for stopping by and taking time out of your busy day to read some of my posts and poems.
God Bless You
~Mary Dalke/Living4HisGlory
RELATED SCRIPTURES
“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom also He made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful Word.” (Hebrews 1:1-3a)
“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there be a falling away first…” (2 Thessalonians 2:3)
“Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (Acts 17:11)
“Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage–with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear want to hear. They will turn their ears from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (2 Timothy 4:2-4)
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16)
“As for you, see what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what He promised us –eternal life. I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about all things, and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit–just as it has taught you, remain in Him.” (1 John 2:24-26)
BEFORE RESURRECTION SUNDAY/EASTER 2014 –LORD WILLING:
MY TESTIMONY: FROM FEAR AND UNCERTAINTY, TO PEACE AND ASSURANCE — HOW GOD REVEALED THE TRUTH TO ME AS I WAS READING A CATHOLIC NEW TESTAMENT BIBLE – PART 2′
**UPDATED 3-13-14 9:17 P.M** ADDED RELATED SCRIPTURES AND ‘IS THAT YOU, LORD?’ VIDEO
**UPDATED 3-13-14 1:22 P.M.** ADDED LINKS TO WEBSITES THAT EXPOSE ‘CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER’ AND OTHER FORMS OF UNBIBLICAL MYSTICAL PRACTICES THAT ARE MAKING THEIR WAY INTO THE CHURCH, AND A FEW MORE COMMENTS.
**UPDATED 3-13-14 12:51 P.M.** ADDED INFORMATION FROM LIGHTHOUSE TRAILS ON THE ‘CLOUD OF UNKNOWING’ WHICH IS IN ONE OF THE BOOKS THAT PRISCILLA SHIRER READS.
**UPDATED 3-13-14 9:08 A.M.**ADDED INFORMATION ABOUT PRISCILLA SHIRER CONCERNING HILLSONG CONFERENCE AND JOYCE MEYER
If there’s one thing we can rely on these days in spite of the fact that our world is changing so drastically, it’s the ‘unchanging’ nature of God and the ‘unchanging’ truth of God’s Word –the Bible (though I must add that ‘The Message’ and ‘The Voice’ translations are excluded as being ‘God’s Word’ because of the ‘new age’ terminology and the distortions of Scriptures presented in these versions).
Sadly, however, many of us who are true Christians — born of the Spirit of God — are also seeing many of our once strong and committed pastors and teachers beginning to change, as well. And these changes are not for the better! Instead of a pastor focusing on the importance of his role to ‘preach the Word’ of God and to ‘equip the saints’ and trust God to grow the church as He has always been faithful to do in the past, they have been led into falling for worldly strategies of growing the church by non-Christians such as Peter Drucker. Rather than ‘contending for the faith’ they now are not only uniting with some pastors and teachers (who many have serious concerns about) at conferences, but also they are placing some of these ‘pastors’ in their own pulpits!
Some are even involving themselves with unbiblical, and even demonic, mystical, spiritual practices such as ‘breath prayers,’ ‘contemplative prayer,’ ‘visualization techniques,’ –occultic practices often cloaked in Christian terminology claiming to allow the ‘Christian’ to ‘hear from God‘ or to ‘connect with God on a deeper, more intimate level.’ (Much more on this in an upcoming post —Lord willing). God’s Word is no longer seen as the way to hear from God…now it’s all about ‘experiences.’ But to those who are not cautious and who fail to continually test things in light of Scripture, these techniques will lure them in and lead them astray.
How could it be that so many pastors and teachers are going astray? Is it for the love of money, position, or power? A ‘mid-life crisis’ maybe? What sin is at the root of all these serious changes we are seeing?
Is it pride that has caused many of them to close their ears to not only the pleadings of their people to disassociate with certain pastors, but also to the legitimate and serious concerns their people are expressing to them?
God’s Word gives us a picture of the condition that this world will be in before the return of Christ, as well as Scriptures that give an alarmingly accurate picture of ‘Christianity’ today. Here are just a few of them:
“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.” (Luke 21:10,11)
“Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” (2 Peter 3:3,4)
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5)
“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there be a falling away first…” (2 Thessalonians 2:3)
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” (1 Timothy 4:1)
**UPDATED MON. 2-17-14 6:20p.m.** May I suggest to you that the reason many of us are seeing pastors and teachers who once strongly stood for Biblical truth without wavering, is because many are choosing to –compromise. Take for instance, Pastor Greg Laurie. When he preached a sermon he always gave a clear gospel presentation complete with making each listener understand they must be willing to repent; to turn from sin and follow Christ, and I believe he still does. However, there are other things Greg Laurie is doing that gives many of us valid reasons to be concerned. I’ll share one example with you that I found out from speaking to a person I met on the Internet who leftGreg Laurie’s church. This person told me at the end of 2012 that they “saw signs of spiritual formation in junior high and up.”
If you are not aware of what Spiritual Formation is, I highly recommend this article (and all the articles) by Pastor Gary Gilley– SPIRITUAL FORMATION
Below is a portion of that article that explains the philosophy of Spiritual Formation:
“The Spiritual Formation Movement is concerned more about individual experience than biblical knowledge or truth. This does not mean that adherents are totally uninterested in the Bible, and some would know it well. But the emphasis is on what a person experiences through the Bible more so than what they learn. Contemplatives, such as Dallas Willard and Richard Foster, will strongly encourage Bible reading and prayer but they mean something different from what most Christians mean when they reference the same terms. As we will see in future articles, contemplative prayer is not the same as prayer defined biblically; “sacred reading” (also called “lectio divina” of Scripture is not the same as Bible study; meditation (mystically encountering God) is not the same as knowing God and so forth. Many of the same terms are used, but as the classical liberals, and the more recent emergents, are fond of doing, they take our terms, including biblical ones, and give them new definitions and twists.”
Now back to what I was saying about Greg Laurie: When I first became a Christian and didn’t yet have a full-time job, I would eagerly get up early every morning to hear him preach on the radio instead of sleeping for an extra hour or so. Never did I think the day would come when he would give in to compromise! However…one day when I got up in the morning and turned on my computer, I saw the following video on YouTube:
Here is the late Pastor Chuck Smith (who sadly, also gave in to compromise) introducing Rick Warren as his “good friend” at —Greg Laurie’s Harvest Crusade in 2009:
For those of you who are still unaware of the serious concerns that many of us have with Rick Warren, I urge you to watch this video that I added to many of my other posts, as well, because of the detailed and very important information this video contains on Rick Warren:
**ADDED 2-17-14**And then there’s Francis Chan. I never heard of him before until my former pastor, James MacDonald, recommended his book ‘Crazy Love‘ one Sunday during his sermon. I did a ‘search’ on him that day to find out who he was, and at first he just seemed like a very humble man who desired to wholeheartedly seek after God and live an extremely simple life in order to give to the poor. However, as time went on he began to get involved in promoting the unbiblical practice of ‘Lectio Divina‘ along with Lecrae, Beth Moore, Louie Giglio, and John Piper at the Passion 2012 Conference. After reading portions of Ephesians, each speaker would stop and say things like this:
Beth Moore: “Without any comment, please, let’s pause and be still and ask Jesus to speak His Word to us.” Let’s pause, be still, and let God’s Word speak to us.”
Lecrae: “Pause, reflect, and hear from the Lord.”
John Piper: “Let’s be quiet and ask the Lord to speak.”
You can’t see it in the video above, but at this conference they had a banner in the background that said “Jesus, speak to me.” In my search to document that for you, I came across the following, thanks to Ken Silva of Apprising Ministries:
SOURCE : APPRISING MINISTRIES – BETH MOORE AND JOHN PIPER LEAD LECTIO DIVINA – LITE AT PASSION 2012
Didn’t God’s Word already speak to them? They just read the whole book of Ephesians out loud, so for them to say to “Be still, and let God’s Word speak” seems to imply they are desiring to hear more than what can be learned by examining the passage of Scripture in context to see what God already said to us through His Word in this particular book, this one being Ephesians. Though God may speak to someone on extremely rare occasions, they are presenting this as a normative practice to be embraced by all Christians. Everything God wants us to know has already been recorded in His Word, the Bible, and Jesus was God’s final Word to us:
“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom also He made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word.” (Hebrews 1:1-3a)
Also, I had heard that there were some who attended Passion 2012 who left there doubting their salvation because they didn’t hear Jesus personally speak to them. It was mainly because of what Louie Giglio said to them at this conference. Once again, in my search to find what Louie Giglio actually said so I could share it with you, I found that on the same post by Ken Silva. These are the words of Louie Giglio at the close of session 5:
“How many of you heard the voice of God speak specifically, clearly, directly, and personally, to you? Can you just put a hand up? I’d like you to share it. Can you put a hand up for a minute?
Just want you to look around; that’s people saying, “God Almighty (pause) the Maker of heaven (pause) the one Who’s sitting on the only throne (pause) that’s not under threat (long pause, audience cheers) –He spoke to me. He spoke to me.”
“God spoke to me.” (long pause) Don’t let the voice of the darkness, tell you that you are not (pause) worth (pause) that God would not speak to you. (pause) Don’t let him tell you, you don’t matter. (pause) God spoke to you.” (SOURCE) Apprising Ministries
Then, to make matters even worse, on December 30, 2013, Francis Chan chose to take part in an event at IHOP (International House Of Prayer), where he openly praised its leader, Mike Bickle, thus giving credibility to Mike BickleandIHOP. If you are not aware of the unbiblical teachings of Mike Bickle, as well as the unscriptural manifestations and even deadly things that have taken place within this movement, I strongly urge you to watch this video and read the articles below it:
When we as Christians — especially pastors — consider getting involved with another pastor, teacher, or a movement claiming to be ‘Christian,’ we have the God-given responsibility of testing everything in light of Scripture (Acts 17:11, 1 Thessalonians 5:21,22) and we also need to seriously consider the warnings of those who know more than we may know about a certain person or movement, and check it out before choosing to get involved. But sadly, as you can hear in the very beginning of the video I posted above, Francis Chanignored the warnings he received and chose to publicly proclaim to those in attendance at that IHOP event, the following:
“This is the first time I’ve ever been to an IHOP event. Which is..it’s kinda crazy to me because I didn’t know that much, and, you know, so I kinda went on the Internet and started looking things up and, I go ‘man there’s a lot of great things going on here. ‘ And today’s was the first time I ever met Mike Bickle, and, I love that guy. I do.
There’s people that told me not to…hang out with him. Like, you know, you know, words like creepy come up and yet I get to know this guy and I’m going, “Man I love his heart.” And I just want to publicly say, I love Mike Bickle.”
Then there’s Mega-pastors, Steven Furtick of Elevation Church in Charlotte N. Carolina, and Perry Noble of Newspring Church in S. Carolina. Both of whom my former pator, James MacDonald, is deeply involved with. I’ll start with Steven Furtick.
INFORMATION CONCERNING STEVEN FURTICK:
As I shared with you in my >WARNING YOU WITH TEARS< post, StevenFurtick took James MacDonald’s place in the pulpit on August 14, 2011 when James was on his summer break. Steven Furtick was also one of the pastors who took part in the ‘Elephant Room Conference,’ an idea that James MacDonald had that could have turned into something good, but instead ended in disaster. (You can also read about that on the previously mentioned post). I had never heard of Steven Furtick before all of that took place, so I cannot comment on how he was when he first started out, but I can share with you what is presently happening that many find rather disturbing. Below is something I again found posted by someone on Twitter. You can find this posted on Elevation Church’s Website. Read all the points below and see if you find some of their reasons just a little bit disturbing as many other people do –including me:
Just now (1:47p.m. 2-19-14) I found the above picture through a tweet on Twitter by ‘Stand Up For The Truth.’ This is an illustration from a coloring book at ‘Elevation Church‘ called ‘The Code,’ in which it appears that at a very early age, the children — along with the adults at ‘Elevation Church‘ — are learning that:
“Elevation Church is built on the vision God gave Pastor Steven.” And that Elevation Church “will protect our unity in supporting his vision.”
I don’t know about you, but I find this rather creepy and downright disturbing! SOURCE
There’s so much information coming out on Twitter concerning Steven Furtick and Elevation Church that I’m finding it hard to keep up! Here’s something else for you to take a close look at; ‘The Code‘ for Elevation Kidz that Steven Furtick wants them all to learn:
(SOURCE) FOUND IN TWEET POSTED BY CHRIS ROSEBROUGH
1. We are a generation of honor
2. We act in audacious faith
3.We eat the fish and leave the bones
4. We are known for what we are for
5. We lead the way in generosity
Don’t you find it rather concerning that Jesus isn’t even mentioned in the Kidz Code?
STEVEN FURTICK ADDRESSING ELEVATION CHILDREN TO LEARN ‘THE CODE’
Just searched YouTube and found this precious little girl, Isabella, who seems to know ‘the code’ quite well:
Please pray for the children and families at Elevation Church. One can only hope and pray that the children at ‘Elevation‘ are learning that our lives should be built upon Christ and His Word as our solid foundation! (Matthew 7:24-27) (1 Corinthians 3:10,11) Somehow by all this new information, I am finding it very hard to believe, because the focus clearly is more on Steven Furtick and Elevation Church rather than on Jesus Christ and His Word.
Here are two more“creepy,” things that I heard concerning Steven Furtick and Elevation Church while listening to Chris Rosebrough of Fighting For The Faith:
IN THE VIDEO BELOW, CHRIS ROSEBROUGH DISCUSSES ‘VISION CASTING’ WITH ‘ISSUES, ETC.’S,TODD WILKEN. AT THE 29:10 MARK YOU WILL HEAR THE ‘CREEPY’ CODE FOR STEVEN FURTICK’S, ELEVATION CHURCH, AT 43:10 MINUTE MARK YOU WILL HEAR JAMES MACDONALD SPEAKING TO A GROUP OF PASTORS ABOUT WHAT TO DO WITH THE ‘DIVISIVE’ MAN, AND AT THE 45:45 MINUTE MARK YOU WILL HEAR WHAT MARK DRISCOLL HAS TO SAY CONCERNING THOSE WHO WILL OPPOSE THE ‘VISION’ OF MARS HILL CHURCH. NOTE THE EVIL IN HIS VOICE AS HE SPEAKS. THOUGH I FIND ALL OF THESE CLIPS DISTURBING, MARK DRISCOLL’S CLIP IS THE MOST DISTURBING AND CLEARLY HIS ATTITUDE DOES NOT REFLECT CHRIST AT ALL!
CLICK BELOW TO LISTEN TO CHRIS ROSEBROUGH’S DEC. 16th 2013 PROGRAM:
At the links below, you will read about some more disturbing information concerning Steven Furtick and Elevation Church that I also found today on Twitter. More and more we are seeing manipulative tactics being used on people who attend mega-churches in order to bring about the results that only God can produce in a person’s heart. Clearly and sadly, many ‘pastors’ today view the church simply as an organization or corporation, and they are using the strategies of men to produce growth and results. May God bring all who participate in things similar to this to true repentance, for they will stand before a Holy God one day and give an account for all they have done and their motives for doing so, as will each and every one of us have to do. (1 Corinthians 3:12-16) [NOTE: Although I do not agree with Chris Rosebrough on where he stands on many theological issues, I do appreciate how he exposes false teachings.]
MORE REASONS TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT STEVEN FURTICK:
I must admit that over the 14 1/2 years that I attended Harvest Bible Chapel Rolling Meadows, Pastor James would frequently have ‘spontaneous baptisms’ as Steven Furtick does at Elevation Church. Sadly, it wouldn’t surprise me if the same manipulative tactics that are clearly used at Elevation Church are also used at Harvest Bible Chapel.
AT THE 45 MINUTE MARK AT THE LINK BELOW, CHRIS ROSEBROUGH POINTS OUT THE SERIOUS AND EVEN BLASPHEMOUS THINGS STEVEN FURTICK SAYS IN AN INTERVIEW WITH SANDY KRAKOWSKI CONCERNING HIS NEW BOOK, ‘CRASH THE CHATTERBOX’
**UPDATED 3-4-14** FINAL POINT WHY YOU SHOULD BE CONCERNED ABOUT STEVEN FURTICK:
Last year at the ‘Holy Trinity Brompton Leadership Conference,’ Steven Furtick said the following starting @4:15:
“I feel real strongly what God put in me to give to you tonight…” “So I want to share with you…tonight from the Old Testament book of 2 Kings, and I want to share with you about a transitional moment in the life of Elisha the prophet. And if you’ll stay with me in this sermon…I don’t know that you’ll take a lot of notes…usually when I come to a conference like this by this point I feel like I cannot write another thing…I have a notebook full of ideas, and…I feel like I don’t need another piece of information at this point. So with that in mind, I thought I would get a little bit beyond the information realm, and…maybe we can move together tonight into a time of impartation (someone cheers at this point) and then maybe together we can see if God would bring us into a… an encounter with Him before we leave this place that…will change us and change our world.” (applause) SOURCE
In case you’re wondering why what Steven Furtick said should be very concerning, and in case you’re not aware of what ‘a time of impartation’ is to many leaders in the Charismatic Movement, please consider watching the following videos I posted below. Briefly I will just say that since 1990 Nicky Gumbel has been the leader of the Alpha Course, and Holy TrinityBrompton Church is known for their promotion of the ‘Toronto Blessing‘ which includes ‘manifestations of animal noises,’ people being ‘slain in thespirit,’people acting ‘drunk in the spirit‘, and many other unbiblical manifestations as you will see in the second video that I posted below.
BENNY HINN HAVING A TIME OF IMPARTATION:
SHOCKING DOCUMENTARY BY ANDREW STROM:
ALPHA – ATTEND OR AVOID – CECIL ANDREWS – PART 1 OF 2
Is it possible that Steven Furtick has gotten involved with these types of manifestations since he has become involved with Nicky Gumbel? I am only speculating at this point, but it really makes you wonder why he used the term ‘atime of impartation‘ instead of ‘a time of prayer.’
**UPDATED 2-20-14** INFORMATION CONCERNING PERRY NOBLE:
Just as with Steven Furtick, I never heard of Perry Noble until information came out concerning the first ‘Elephant Room Conference‘ in which he took part in along with Steven Furtick and others. As many in the ‘ChurchGrowth Movement‘ do, Perry Noble chooses to use worldly methods to appeal to unbelievers in order to bring them into the church. And in April of 2009 he chose to play AC DC’s song, ‘Highway To Hell‘ at his EasterService at Newspring Church. His reason for doing so, however, does not line up with what he declared during the ‘Elephant Room Conference.’ In the video below you will hear not only a short clip from ‘The ElephantRoom Conference‘ in which Perry Noble explains his reason for doing so, but also you will hear him explain to his whole church congregation the reason why he played ‘Highway to Hell‘ for his Easter service. His reason seems quite clear by what he says, but ultimately God will be the one who will judge his motives:
After listening to what he says in the video above, I encourage you to listen to the entire segment that took place during the ‘Elephant RoomConference‘ at the first link below where you can hear James MacDonald, Mark Driscoll, and Perry Noble discuss his decision to play that song in church:
A REVIEW OF PERRY NOBLE’S SERMON FROM AC/DC SUNDAY – IN SPITE OF THE FACT THAT HE PLAYED THE SONG, ‘HIGHWAY TO HELL’ DID PERRY NOBLE AT LEAST PREACH THE GOSPEL ON EASTER OF 2009? READ HIS THOROUGH REVIEW AT THE LINK BELOWAND FIND OUT:
**UPDATED 2-28-14**INFORMATION CONCERNING JAMES MACDONALD:
Then there’s my former pastor, James MacDonald of Harvest Bible Chapel, Rolling Meadows, whom I deeply appreciated because of his strong stand for Biblical truth and how he would preach God’s Word without apology. After leaving my former Assembly of God Church of 16 years because the leadership was beginning to get involved with the ‘Pensacola‘revival,’ I was finally beginning to trust a pastor again, and felt assured that James would be a pastor who would never give in to compromise. However, as many of us now know, sadly he did begin to change. If I had to pinpoint exactly when he started to change, I can say without a doubt it was right after he came back from staying with Greg Laurie when he was having his cancer treatments. And by reading some comments on The Elephant’s Debt and comments on some of the posts on Blood Stained Ink, I know that many other people who used to attend HBCRM (and some who still attend) have come to that same realization. Whether Greg Laurie influenced him in some way, or someone else did, it was obvious to many of us that he was no longer the same James MacDonald that we once knew and looked forward to hearing when he preached almost every Saturday evening and Sunday morning. He changed so much that one morning as I heard him preaching I actually had these thoughts:
“Who are you, and where is the real James MacDonald? Did someone clone him and replace the real James with his clone?”
One day when I was doing a ‘search’ on the Internet, I came across the following article which made me laugh:
It was rather comforting knowing now that I wasn’t the only one who had some outlandish thoughts about James because the changes in him were so obvious and rather concerning! In the article above which was written on February 10th 2012, Cameron Buettel said the following:
“It would seem that my theory about the real James MacDonald being abducted by aliens some time last year is not as far fetched as my doubters first thought. Of the multitudes of weird things James MacDonald has done over the last year or so, perhaps the most alarming was his invitation to TD Jakes to attend his Elephant Room Conference where “brothers” discuss their methodological differences.” (SOURCE)
Yes, Cameron, I am in total agreement! And because of what happen that night concerning T D Jakes — as I explained in detail in my WARNING YOU WITH TEARSpost — I did not return to Harvest Bible Chapel, Rolling Meadows — my church of over 14 1/2 years — ever again.
**UPDATED 2-27-14** As previously mentioned, James came up with the idea of the ‘Elephant RoomConference.’ We then began to see James form a close bond(or should I say they formed a “tribe,” as they referred to it in these ‘Elephant Room’ conferences)with pastors that many of us have valid concerns about: Mark Driscoll, Steven Furtick, Perry Noble…and then in ER2 there was T D Jakes –a known Modalist. An idea that could have been amazing if James would have firmly, but lovingly held each pastor accountable to God’s Word and challenged them in certain areas where they were compromising, sadly ‘ER2‘ ended in disaster because of how TDJakes was basically declared as having embraced the Biblical understanding of the Trinity, when it was obvious to many Biblical scholars who examined all that he had said that night that he was still using the language of a Modalist. (Please consider listening to the many videos I added on my ‘Warning You With Tears’ post that examine all that T D Jakes said at ‘ER2’ in light of Scripture and in light of how one who does not believe in the Doctrine of the Trinity describes God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit). And even though James did stand his ground concerning Perry Noble’s idea of playing ‘Highway To Hell’ and constantly and firmly said it “was a bad idea,” and said, “”I just don’t get it atall,” and “The message of ‘Highway To Hell’ is blatantly offensive,” if you listen to the link I posted above — ‘ShouldChurch Leaders Play ‘Highway To Hell’ To Reach Unbelievers,’ — after James continued to listen to Perry Noble justify his reasons for playing it, near the end you will sadly hear James suddenly begin to change his once firm stand on his strong opposition to it. Towards the end of the video after listening to Perry Noble constantly defend his decision to play ‘HTH’, he asks Matt Chandler if he would play ‘HTH’ in his church, and then James says the following:
“He’s really making me think. I gotta say that. I mean he’s really making me think… he has a strategy, it’s thought through…he believes it honors God, he doesn’t think he’s compromising in any way.” Like he is on it with a passion, and a reason, and defending it –toe to toe.” …”He’s thought it through very carefully”
After Matt Chandler expresses concern about the possibility that pastors may fly into license; all things are permissible,’ James says:
“To me personally I would never allow something that so defames the glory of God and the reputation of Jesus. I would not allow it in my service. Unclean! I would not allow it.”
Concerning Perry Noble’s decision to play ‘Highway To Hell,’Mark Driscoll asked James:
“…do you think it was a sin against God?”
James replied:
“…I don’t doubt his motives and I definitely don’t think it was sin for him to do it…”
“Here’s my thought on the subject for what it’s worth: I’m already being instructed by this. Frankly I’m not surprised, but I’m blessed by the sincerity, and the intentionality with which you’re doing the things that you’re doing. Like I’m instructed by that. I’m going have to think about that –some more. My perspective is this: If it doesn’t adorn the gospel…it’s the beauty of Christ that’s at stake in everything we do. The glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (Then quotes 2 Corinthians 3:18 )
“If it doesn’t adorn the beauty of God’s great Son, if it doesn’t display Him and show Him off…it’s the manifest presence of God in the service which is the powerful life changing element. I believe that if it doesn’t adorn the gospel it doesn’t advance the gospel. We may see fruit…some fruit from it…we may draw people with it, we may draw decisions with it…and I’ll say it as simply as I know how in summary: I do think that if it doesn’t adorn the gospel, it doesn’t advance the gospel.”
Perry Noblesays, in part:
“…I think it was used to adore, and be used to advance the gospel because the song was redeemed.”
James replied:
“I’m gonna just say that I’m really blessed by you right now because your…your thinking is a lot different that I thought it was gonna to be. I think you’re wrong about it. But you really have thought it through…as you said, ‘we prayed on it’…” “I’m just gonna stand on that point… if it doesn’t make Jesus more beautiful to people it’s not advancing our mission.” ” If it’s not elevating God and God’s glory and God’s great Son then it’s not advancing the mission. I really struggle with this idea that to be-in order to connect people with Christ you have to be like them. That ‘I gotta become like them to reach them’ is something that uh…I’m just not there yet.”
Perry:
“That’s what Jesus did.”
James:
“Yeah?” (Silence for 3 seconds, and then James says: “That would take another session.”
James:
“All right. Fantastic. Let’s wrap it up.”
And then that particular ‘conversation’ came to an end.
These conferences seemed more like ‘Hegelian Dialectic‘ sessions where the goal is to wear down those with opposing views so they conform to the beliefs of the majority. Did you notice how James would have his focus on Scripture, and yet notice how many times “I think” was said instead of them keeping their focus on the truth of God’s Word and the Holiness of God and the reverence that we should have in our times of worship. A shift began to take place where the belief of playing something so horrendous in a church as ‘Highway To Hell‘ was slowly becoming a possibility…at the very end it seemed that James might possibly consider trying to ‘be like them to reach them‘ with maybe a little more time and a little more thought.
We cannot be led by our feelings or our own ideas and justify something by simply saying, “We prayed about it.” Our standard to judge what’s right and wrong must always be God’s Word, and we must never lose sight of the fact that God is pure and completely Holy and our worship we give to Him must be nothing less than that; pure and completely holy!
“…worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:28,29)
If you are not aware of what the ‘Hegelian Dialectic Process‘ is, I highly encourage you to watch the following video:
Just think of the many who attended ER2in January 2012 or watched by live stream and walked away that night believing that TD Jakes indeed is a “brother-in-Christ.” Think of those who bought the DVD’s, and those who are not firmly grounded in the truth of God’s Word who may even begin to listen to his sermons and be caught up in his ‘Word of Faith‘ false teachings, which is another serious error in T D Jakes‘ teachings that James and the other pastors chose not to address and confront him on that night. Those of us who are ‘born of the Spirit,’ must be Bereans and examine the Scriptures daily to see if what is being said (and done by those who claim to speak for God) is true,’ (Acts 17:11) so that we will not be deceived. We are not to trust in men but in God alone. Pastors and teachers are to follow Christ and His command to ‘preach the Word,’ and to ‘go and make disciples,’ and not be led astray by following the dictates of their deceitful hearts.
Not only have some people lost sight of the Holiness of God, but also many have lost their fear of God. Profanity in the pulpit is a common occurrence in many churches today, when God’s Word clearly says otherwise, concerning the speech and conversations of those who profess to be followers of Christ and leaders in the church, as you can see from some of the Scriptures I posted further down.
When friendships with certain people begin to eclipse our ability to discern, and if our acceptance by others slowly becomes more important that our desire to honor and please God, you can be sure that it will be the beginning of a continuous downward spiral. And that is what I believe we are all witnessing concerning James and many pastors and teachers today –compromise for the sake of ‘unity’ and acceptance which not only causes one to harden their heart against the warnings and truth presented in God’s Word, but also hinders them from discerning truth from error.
Here’s another example: In January, James went away for some rest. And by his tweet below you can see that on one of those days he attended Perry Noble’s Newspring Church. And concerning Perry Noble’s new series on ‘CHANGE,’ he said the following:
I haven’t yet listened to the actual sermon that James listened to on that particular Sunday, but it was entitled:‘ThreeThings That Must Happen For Change To Happen.’ If you’d like, you can go to Newspring Church’s website and listen to it in light of Scripture (Acts 17:11) and come to your own conclusion.
If you’d like to listen to a Biblical analysis of one of Perry Noble’s sermons in his series on ‘Change,‘ you can listen to Chris Rosebrough of‘Fighting For The Faith,’at the link below. That will give you a glimpse into how Perry Noble misapplies Scripture, and will also leave you wondering why James would publicly tell his followers on Twitter that one of Perry Noble’s sermons is “great.” Maybe that particular one was, but by all the other ones I have heard him ‘preach,’ I am sorry to say that it is highly unlikely that it was.
Here’s an example of how Perry Nobleclearly takes Scriptures out of context. In this video Perry takes Scriptures that can only apply to Jesus and applies them to Steven Furtick! It is not a stretch at all that ChrisRosebrough entitled the following video,‘THE BLASPHEMOUS GOSPEL OF STEVEN FURTICK BY PERRYNOBLE’
Another concern we should have with James and his involvement with — and promotion of — Perry Noble, is the fact that Perry Noble promotes the book, ‘SACRED MARRIAGE‘ by Gary Thomas. In the following video Perry says:
“It is the best book on marriage written,” and “…very excellent information that everybody needs to hear”
And in case you’re wondering why Perry Noble promoting that book by Gary Thomas is concerning to many, please consider reading the following articles at Lighthouse Trails at the link below this ‘quick capture‘ and you will understand why you should be concerned about Perry Noble or any pastor promoting a book by Gary Thomas. Here’s an excerpt from one of those articles which clearly reveals why many are concerned about the unbiblical and even mystical teachings that Gary Thomas presents in his books:
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17)
“He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind; for He is not a human being, that He should change His mind.” (1 Samuel 15:29)
“I the LORD do not change.” (Malachi 3:6a)
“People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, He confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” (Hebrews 6:16-19a)
**2-9-14 ** PLEASE READ THESE SCRIPTURES WITH THIS QUESTION IN MIND: DO THE QUALITIES IN SOME OF THESE SCRIPTURES DESCRIBE MY PASTOR?
“To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s suffering who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them–not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.” (1 Peter 5:1-3)
“Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his own family obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.” (1 Timothy 3:1-7)
“An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless–not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.” (Titus 1:6-9)
“The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker deserves his wages.” Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. But those elders who are sinning you are to reprove before everyone, so that the others may take warning. I charge you in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism.” (1 Timothy 5:17-21)
“So Christ Himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip His people for works of service, so the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fulness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of Him who is the head, that is, Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11-15)
“I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.” (Romans 16:17,18)
“Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” (Acts 20:26-31)
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the Word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)
“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage–with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (2 Timothy 4:1-4)
“For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.” (2 Corinthians 12:20)
“You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good. For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that man will have to give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:34-37)
“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children. And live a life of love,just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or course joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person — such a man is an idolater — has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful to even mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:1-16)
“But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.” (Colossians 3:8)
“Let your conversations be always full of grace, …so that you may know how to answer everyone.” (Colossians 4:6)
“Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by Him deeds are weighed.” (1 Samuel 2:3)
“To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.” (Proverbs 8:13)
“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” (Proverbs 11:2)
“He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.” (Proverbs 13:3)
“Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advise.” (Proverbs 13:10)
“Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18)
“A man’s pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.” (Proverbs 29:23)
“The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled and the pride of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.” (Isaiah 2:11)
“The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’ (Obadiah 1:3)
“The Word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: “This is what the Sovereign LORD says, “Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the Word of the LORD: As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because My shepherds did not search for My flock but cared for themselves rather than My flock, therefore, you shepherds, hear the Word of the LORD: This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for My flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue My flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them. For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I Myself will search for My sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after My sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.” (Ezekiel 34:1-12)
“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” (Galatians 6:7,8)
**UPDATE 2-9-14** If you have read all the Scriptures above, then please click HERE, and if your pastor is JAMES MACDONALD OF HARVEST BIBLE CHAPEL ROLLING MEADOWS, please take the next hour or so to listen to his message from the ‘ACT LIKE MEN’ CONFERENCE in its entirety.
If you have been one of those who have ignored the serious concerns that many of us have tried to warn you about concerning James MacDonald’s character, and how much he has changed, after listening to his message can you now honestly say that his character and speech honors Christ and matches the Biblical description of an elder?If you are a man and you brought your son or a man you were sharing Christ’s love and the gospel with to this conference, would you be proud of the speech of your pastor, or cringe and feel ashamed? Or more importantly, what do you think Jesus thought of his message? Did James truly glorify God with his whole message, or did he compromise in order to please men?
Since James has become very good friends with Mark Driscoll — who is sadly referred to by many as “the cussing pastor,”— maybe he has been wrongly influenced by his behavior. However, there is no excuse for James speaking as he did at the ‘Act Like Men‘ conference. He knows full well how our speech and our behavior as a follower of Christ is to reflect Christ and not reflect the behavior of the world.
James’ brother is in extremely critical condition after suffering a massive stroke, and I am deeply sorry to hear that and am praying for him, but this issue needs to be dealt with and not ignored!
SECOND ITEM OF CONCERN:
A long time former member of Harvest Bible Chapel Rolling Meadows informed me that HBCRMsent out a very lengthy letter to those who have recently left Harvest. (I have not received one yet. Maybe they are sending letters only to those who have not already let them know why they have left). Below is a ‘quick capture‘ of a condensed summary giving just the main highlights in the letter that this person received from HBCRM and was nice enough to share with me by email:
So, former Harvesters, what would it take for you to return? Would you even consider returning? Would you return if James sincerely repented for the reasons that caused you to leave? Are you planning on responding to this letter? I would love to hear your thoughts.
Someone who just read the recent HBCRM ‘Elder’s Update‘ informed me of the fact that James has agreed to take a pay cut and made many other commendable ‘lifestyle adjustments.’ But is this enough? True change takes place in the heart when godly sorrow grips a person and they realize the wrong they have done and ask forgiveness from those they have offended and sinned against. Are we seeing these changes take place in the heart and words of James? Only God knows his heart, so we must not judge his intentions, but the evidence of true repentance must be more than superficial changes.
The elder update also speaks of “accountability between senior staff and Elder board,“and “the priority of seeking reconciliation in relationships with former church leaders.” All good steps in the right direction, for sure!
But what about the ”ELDER VIDEO” in which the character of men were destroyed in front of all who attended Harvest that day? What kind of impression did ‘first time visitors’ have if they attended that particular day? Below is a ‘quick capture’ of a review of HBCRM on ‘yelp,’ given by a person who attended HBCRM only a few times, and one of those times he attended was the day the ‘Elder Update‘ video was played for the entire congregation. I accidentally came across this a couple of weeks ago:
The ‘elders video,’ incident was bad enough, but what do you think a first time visitor thought if they came to HBCRM on Easter Sunday 2013 when James chose to preach on –money??!! I never would have thought that James would have passed up an opportunity to preach the gospel on such a perfect day as the day we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! How utterly sad and even possibly blasphemous that he would choose to do such a thing! Truly James has changed!
Personally, I would not return even if he had a sincere change of heart and repented and asked forgiveness from all the people he has hurt, although I am still continuing to pray that one day that will indeed happen.
Even though I have forgiven James and long to be with some of my friends who are still there, I have found a church where the pastor has served faithfully for many years, and who preaches verse by verse without taking any verses out of context, or distorting it in order to add his own agenda. My new pastor preaches every Sunday and does not get involved with pastors who distort the Word of God. My new pastor knows me by name, and has talked with me almost every Sunday over the two years that I have now been there since leaving HBCRM. I have even had lunch with my pastor and his wife and daughter, and he kindly and generously paid for my lunch. Sadly, James would not even know me by name, even though I was a member for over 14 years and sat in the front of church within the first three or four rows, Sunday after Sunday. A smaller, more intimate church where they sing hymns with lyrics that praise God, giving Him all the glory He is SO deserving of, and where people know one another and encourage one another has been the kind of church I have now found, and I am very happy and at peace there. No more waiting for James to change and going home every Sunday feeling discouraged and righteously angry because of how he used certain Scriptures to insult those of us who have discernment and instead he labeled us as being “divisive.”
Please keep James and his brother in your prayers as I will be doing. It is not my intent to “bash” James— it saddens me to post this, especially knowing his brother is now in such serious condition, but I found this audio from the ‘Act Like Men‘ Conference before I heard about his brother, and had been planning on updating this post with more information since I wrote it on Jan. 23, 2014. My sole intention of adding the audio clip is that I am hoping and praying that God will use it to help those of you who are not only continuing to cling to the idea of “how much James has accomplished in the past,” but also to help those of you who are refusing to listen to the concerns that many have expressed on ‘The Elephant’s Debt,’ (especially on their latest and possibly last post —‘TO EVERY SEASON’). It is my prayer that many of you will finally realize — after first reading the Scriptures I posted and then listening to his message — that indeed the character of James does not line up with the godly character traits that an elder must have according to God’s Word, and that all of you will begin to think and pray about what God would have you to do.
Scott and Ryan have shed light on many serious concerns regarding the conduct and character of James MacDonald. Many godly men have come forward to give their statements concerning why they have left, and they have shared their personal stories of their experiences with James. It’s time that all of us get our focus on Jesus, and not on any man and his ministry. It’s time to examine the evidence and seek God in prayer for answers and wisdom as to what He would have you all to do.
Men, no matter who your pastor is, you are ordained by God to be the spiritual leader for your family. You will have to stand before God one day and give an account for how you have led your wife and your children spiritually, so please make sure you are testing all the messages that your pastor is preaching against the Word of God, (Acts 17:11) and if necessary, find a new church home where the Word of God is accurately preached and the pastor’s character reflects the character of Christ Himself.
HBCRM members and attendees, spend time praying for God to change James’ heart, but seek God as to how much longer He would have you wait to see true repentance take place. Or maybe in your time of prayer He will lead you to begin a search to find a new church where the pastor is accountable to godly men who have been appointed as elders by the votes of members of the church, and where the pastor will be faithful to preach God’s Word and will not give in to compromise.
**UPDATED 3-5-14** 7:05 p.m.** IN CLOSING
There was a time when most men of God were faithful to the call of God to go and preach the gospel and make disciples and correct and rebuke those who were in error. But sadly today some pastors simply view the church as an ‘organization’ and some even go as far as saying, “I think that Jesus is theproduct”(that they attempt to sell) as T D Jakes stated in the following interview:
Many mega-pastors use worldly marketing strategies and some use feel-good messages that appeal to the desires of their ‘consumers’ to grow their church instead of preaching a gospel of sin and repentance and the glorious good news of the gospel of God’s mercy and grace. Many may leave feeling good and many will probably even come back, but without hearing the truth that we are all sinners on the road to a real eternal lake of fire, their ‘best life’ will be only the good they experience here ‘now’ on this earth, and those who have ‘preached’ a ‘gospel’ that has no power to save will have to stand before God one day and answer for what they have done and failed to do. The blood of their people will be upon their hands.
And some pastors go to the other extreme and focus more on the law and make their people feel condemned because of their sins, and they do not share the ‘good news’ of the gospel that if they repent and receive what Jesus did when He not only took upon Himself the detestable sins that we have committed, but also Jesus took upon Himself the full wrath of God that was intended for us because of our sins, and that we can be completely forgiven and clothed in the righteousness of Christ, and our sins will then be as far as the east is from the west, and cast into the depths of the sea.
Presently we are seeing more and more pastors and teachers focusing on ‘unity’ and focusing less and less on Biblical truth.Few today are men of God who have remained faithful to preach and to teach God’s Word to their congregations –all because they have not allowed the pressure to conform to the new standards to measure success as a church by, which seems to be,“It’s all about the numbers,”as mega-pastor Steven Furtick has been known to say. More and more these types of pastors continue to lose sight of their mission of preaching the gospel and equipping the saints, and instead seek to build more and more churches which have become their empires destined to crumble if these pastors do not repent and return to Jesus, their first love.
The true gospel is about preaching sin and repentance to people to make them see their need for a Savior, and realizing that God alone has the power to convict someone of sin and to lead someone to repentance. To use emotionally manipulating tactics — such as playing music when the pastor is preaching or about to give an altar call, or planting people in the service to come forward so as to motivate others to follow and come forward in an altar call — (as many of us have discovered is being done by seeing the latest news coming out concerning Steven Furtick, Elevation Church, and so-called ‘spontaneous baptisms‘), or to present sermons and music in a worship service that appeals to the sinful nature of men, implies that the good news of the gospel no longer has the power nor is it sufficient any longer to save someone. And nothing could be further from the truth!
Many pastors and teachers — and all of us who are followers of Christ, for that matter — may start out with pure motives and a heart that desires to follow God without compromise, however, what really matters is how we finish on this road called ‘life.’ This thought came to mind towards the end February of this year as I was doing my daily Bible reading. As I often do at the start of a new year, I began reading through the Old Testament. On this one particular day as I was reading through 2 Chronicles, I began to reflect upon the many kings of Israel who started out serving God, but in the end they began to compromise and did not remain faithful to God. Here are just a few of them:
“Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD. He removed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred stones, and cut down the Asherah poles. He commanded Judah to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, and to obey His laws and commands. He removed the high places and incense altars in every town in Judah, and the kingdom was at peace under him. Zerah the Cushite marched out against them with a vast army and three hundred chariots, and came as far as Mareshah. Then Asa called to the LORD his God and said, “LORD, there is no one like You to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on You, and in Your name we have come against this vast army. O LORD, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You.” The LORD struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah. The Cushites fled, and Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar. “The Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded. He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.” When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the altar of the LORD that was in front of the portico of the LORD’s temple. They entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul. All who would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, were to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. They took an oath to the LORD with loud acclamation, with shouting, and with trumpets and horns. All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and He was found by them. So the LORD gave them rest on every side. King Asa also deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive Asherah pole. Asa cut the pole down, broke it up and burned it in the Kidron Valley. Although he did not remove the high places from Israel, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the LORD all his life. “At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa King of Judah and said to him, “Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. Were not the Cushites and the Libyans a mighty army with great number of chariots and horsemen? Yet when you relied on the LORD, He delivered them into your hands. For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war. Asa was angry with the seer because of this; he was so enraged that he put him in prison. At the same time Asa brutally oppressed some of the people. The events of Asa’s reign, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the LORD, but only from the physicians. Then in the forty-first year of his reign Asa died and rested with his fathers.” (2 Chronicles 14:2-5,9-13a,15:1,2,8,9,12-17,16:7-13)
“Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Jehoaddin; she was from Jerusalem. He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not wholeheartedly. When Amaziah returned from slaughtering the Edomites, he brought back the gods of the people of Seir. He set them up as his own gods, bowed down to them and burned sacrifices to them. The anger of the LORD burned against Amaziah, and He sent a prophet to him, who said, “Why do you consult this people’s gods, which could not save their own people from your hand?” While he was still speaking, the king said to him, “Have we appointed you as an adviser to the king? Stop! Why be struck down?” So the prophet stopped but said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.” From the time that Amaziah turned away from following the LORD, they conspired against him in Jerusalem and he fled to Lachish, but they sent men after him to Lachish and killed him there. He was brought back by horse and was buried with his fathers in the city of Judah.” (2 Chronicles 25:1,2,14-16,27,28)
“Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jecoliah; she was from Jerusalem. He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done. He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success. God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabs who lived in Gur Baal, and against the Meunites. The Ammonites brought tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread as far as the border of Egypt, because he had become very powerful. But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the LORD followed him in. They confronted him and said, “It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the LORD God.” Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the LORD’s temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead. When Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him, they saw that he had leprosy on his forehead, so they hurried him out. Indeed, he himself was eager to leave, because the LORD had afflicted him. King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died.” (2 Chronicles 27:3-5,7,8,16-21)
After reading all the many accounts of the kings of Israel, suddenly I thought of many popular pastors and teachers who no longer serve God wholeheartedly and who began to change and who have given in to compromise. These pastors no longer contend for the faith and no longer protect their sheep from false teachers as they once did. Instead they invite them in to preach from their very own pulpits! On theday they stand before a Holy Godwho alone knows their hearts and their motives, it won’t matter how many churches they planted, or how many people came forward in an altar call, or how many came forward to be baptized. What will matter is did they really place their trust in Christ. And, if so, were they faithful to preach the gospel without compromise? Were they faithful to earnestly contend for the faith? Were they faithful to preach His Word in season and out of season and teach their people how to rightly divide His Word? Did they bring correction when it was needed? Did they expose error and protect their people lovingly and fervently as a shepherd protects his sheep from wolves whose main intent is to kill and destroy them?
Many pastors and teachers — and many ordinary followers of Christ, as well — need to have a fresh realization of the Holiness of God. Because, sadly, many obviously have lost their fear of God, or they would not be doing some of the many things that they are doing these days and claiming that ‘God told them to do it.’ We all need to have our focus on Jesus Christ alone, and seek Him in His Word alone.
We also need to pray for our pastors and teachers, and pray for one another that God would fill our hearts with repentance and that we would seek Him wholeheartedly so that we will not change along with the culture of this world that is so obviously in rebellion against a Holy God.
As always, God has a remnant of believers who will not give in to compromise and who will continue to earnestly contend for the faith. Will you be one of them?
WHY I WROTE THE FOLLOWING POEM
I began writing this poem a few months ago out of concern because of what I see happening in mega-churches in general. However, after listening to a video of a sermon from the weekend of January 4th and 5th 2014 preached by James MacDonald — my former pastor for over 14 1/2 years — and hearing how he enticed the people in his congregation by saying,“The biggest miracle that’s ever happened in the history of Harvest Bible Chapelis happening right now,” and how he went on to say that ‘he couldn’t tell everyoneabout it yet, but would in a few months,’ and upon learning from an ‘inside source‘ at the very end of December that “the [giving] “envelopes” were on every chair as people entered the auditorium,” and that “…the give stage was set from the beginning,”I was then strongly motivated to finish this poem so that I could warn people of not only the manipulative tactics that some pastors use to lure them in and to keep them there, but also I again realized the need to remind people of the importance of looking to Jesus Christ alone and studying God’s Word so that people would not be deceived by men and lured and captivated by their ‘vision casting’ plans that are presented to them by these pastors. Therefore, the following poem has some verses that are much longer than the verses in most of my other poems because whenever I attempt to express my concerns about serious matters, I find it very difficult to condense my thoughts into short verses. I apologize for how it appears, but I hope the message comes across without the lengthy verses being a distraction to you.
Thank you very much for stopping by and taking time out of your busy day to read some of my posts and poems.
**UPDATED AND COMPLETED WEDNESDAY, 3-5-14** 7:17 P.M.
**UPDATED WEDNESDAY 3-5-14 10:00 A.M.** ADDED ARTICLE ON THE CHURCH GROWTH MOVEMENT BY PAUL PROCTOR. SEE UNDER ‘FURTHER READING.’ DATED IN RED.
**UPDATED TUESDAY 3-4-14 6:02 P.M.** ADDED INFORMATION CONCERNING STEVEN FURTICK. SEE UNDER ‘FINAL POINT WHY YOU SHOULD BE CONCERNED ABOUT STEVEN FURTICK,’ DATED IN RED. WILL ADD CLOSING THOUGHTS WITHIN THE NEXT FEW DAYS WHICH WILL FINALLY COMPLETE THIS POST.
**UPDATED SATURDAY 3-1-14 3:30 P.M.** ADDED SOME CLOSING THOUGHTS. SEE UNDER ‘IN CLOSING’ AND ‘WHY I WROTE THIS POEM,’ DATED IN RED. ALMOSTFINISHED…JUST A LITTLE MORE TO GO. LORD WILLING, SHOULD BE COMPLETED BY EARLY NEXT WEEK.
**UPDATED FRIDAY 2-28-14 10:10 P.M.** ADDED SOME ‘CONVERSATION’ BETWEEN JAMES MACDONALD, PERRY NOBLE, AND MARK DRISCOLL FROM ‘ELEPHANT ROOM 1’ CONCERNING PERRY N. PLAYING ‘HIGHWAY TO HELL.’ ( DATED IN RED – SEE UNDER ‘INFORMATION CONCERNING JAMES MACDONALD’)
**UPDATED THURSDAY 2-27-14 9:17 p.m.** ADDED MORE INFORMATION CONCERNING JAMES AND PERRY NOBLE (DATED IN RED) JUST NEED TO ADD MY CLOSING COMMENTS, BUT MAY NOT BE ABLE TO FINISH TOMORROW. HAVE AN IMPORTANT FAMILY MATTER TO ATTEND TO THAT CAME UP. LORD WILLING, I WILL COMPLETE THIS POST WITHIN THE NEXT FEW DAYS. THANK YOU FOR STOPPING BY, AND THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR PATIENCE.
**UPDATED WEDNESDAY 2-26-14 9:00 p.m.** ADDED ARTICLE ‘THECULT OF THE VISIONEER’ BY TODD PRUITT UNDER ‘FURTHER READING,’ SOME INFORMATION CONCERNING JAMES MACDONALD, AND AN ARTICLE CONCERNING JAMES BY CAMERON BUETTEL. (DATE IN RED). LORD WILLING, I AM HOPING TO COMPLETE THIS POST BY THE END OF THIS WEEK. THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR PATIENCE.
**UPDATED FRIDAY 2-21-14 12:00 P.M**. ADDED ‘STAND UP FOR THE TRUTH’ PODCAST CONCERNING STEVEN FURTICK -“WHEN DOES A CHURCH CROSS INTO A CULT” AND VIDEO OF STEVEN F. ENCOURAGING ‘ELEVATION CHILDREN’ TO LEARN ‘THE CODE.’
**UPDATED THURSDAY 2-20-14 9:13 P.M.** ADDED MANY LINKS TO INFORMATION ON PERRY NOBLE, PERRY NOBLE VIDEO, ARTICLE BY DR. RANDY WHITE CONCERNING THE ‘CHURCH GROWTH MOVEMENT. (DATED IN RED).
**UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 2-19-2014** ADDED INFORMATION ON STEVEN FURTICK AND ELEVATION CHURCH, AND MORE ON FRANCIS CHAN. ALSO ADDED LINK (COLORED IN RED) TO THE ‘ELDER VIDEO.’ ALL INFORMATION DATED ANDCOLORED IN RED. THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR PATIENCE.
**UPDATED MONDAY, 2-17-14 6:20p.m.** ADDED MORE INFORMATION ABOUT GREG LAURIE AND INFORMATION ON FRANCIS CHAN. SEE INFORMATION DATED 2-17-14
** UPDATE 2-15-14 9:26 P.M.** I WAS HOPING TO FINISH THIS POST BY TODAY, BUT THERE WAS SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT I NEEDED TO TAKE CARE OF FIRST. LORD WILLING, I HOPE TO FINALLY COMPLETE THIS POST BY WEDNESDAY. ONCE AGAIN, I AM VERY SORRY, AND APPRECIATE YOUR PATIENCE.
**UPDATED 2-12-14**SEE UNDER THE FIRST SET OF SCRIPTURES. DATE IN RED. LORD WILLING, HOPE TO HAVE THIS POST COMPLETED BY THE END OF THIS WEEK
**UPDATED 2-9-14 9:01 p.m.** ADDED LINK TO JAMES MACDONALD’S MESSAGE FROM HIS ‘ACT LIKE MEN’ CONFERENCE WITH SOME THOUGHTS FOR YOU TO PRAYERFULLY PONDER, AS WELL AS A HBCRM REVIEW I CAME ACROSS ON ‘YELP,’ AND INFORMATION ON A LETTER RECENTLY SENT TO MANY WHO HAVE LEFT HBCRM. (ALL UPDATES DATED IN RED
UPDATE 2-6-14 3:32P.M. ADDED MORE SCRIPTURES** WILL TRY TO COMPLETE POST WHEN TIME ALLOWS…NEED TO CATCH UP ON SOME THINGS FIRST. THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR PATIENCE.
UPDATE 1-31-14 11:38A.M.** FOR THE PAST WEEK I HAVE BEEN GATHERING INFORMATION TO SUPPORT SOME OF THE COMMENTS I WILL BE ADDING TO FINALLY FINISH THIS POST. LORD WILLING, I HOPE TO HAVE EVERYTHING I AM SEARCHING FOR — AND THIS POST COMPLETED — BY EARLY NEXT WEEK –MAYBE SOONER. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE.
Desiring for God to use all that I have been through in life, I decided to start my first blog, living4hisglory.wordpress.com, in order to write poems about some of those experiences to bring glory to God, as well as to share them with others with the hope of encouraging those of you who have been broken and shattered by life's circumstances and hurt by those who were supposed to have loved you rather than abuse you in some way.
Also, because of some pastors and teachers today who seem to be abandoning Biblical Christianity and instead seem to be either seeking to build their own empires and promoting their own agendas, and at times even leading the people in their churches into unbiblical, 'mystical practices' without some people even realizing it, I saw the importance and necessity to begin writing poems and posts in order to inform Christians, as well as to make Christians realize the extreme importance of testing what people say (who claim to speak for God) against the truth of God's Word, (Acts 17:11) so that they will not be deceived. It has never been -- nor shall it ever be -- my intention to bash any particular pastor or teacher; my sole purpose in bringing attention to false teachings is to make Christians realize that we are to be followers of Jesus Christ, and not to be followers of any man (or woman) and his (or her) ministry. I hope that you will be blessed -- as well as challenged -- by the things that I write.
NOTE: COMMENTS ON ALL POSTS CLOSE ONE MONTH AFTER THEY ARE PUBLISHED.
Thank you for stopping by and taking time to read some of my posts and poems.
God Bless You
~Mary - Living4HisGlory
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog's author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Mary K. Dalke and Living4HisGlory Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
NOTE: Any adds that may be displayed on my blog have not been chosen or approved by me; I can't even see any adds that WordPress chooses to post here.
Desiring for God to use all that I have been through in life, I decided to start my first blog, living4hisglory.wordpress.com, in order to write poems about some of those experiences to bring glory to God, as well as to share them with others with the hope of encouraging those of you who have been broken and shattered by life's circumstances and hurt by those who were supposed to have loved you rather than abuse you in some way.
Also, because of some pastors and teachers today who seem to be abandoning Biblical Christianity and instead seem to be either seeking to build their own empires and promoting their own agendas, and at times even leading the people in their churches into unbiblical, 'mystical practices' without some people even realizing it, I saw the importance and necessity to begin writing poems and posts in order to inform Christians, as well as to make Christians realize the extreme importance of testing what people say (who claim to speak for God) against the truth of God's Word, (Acts 17:11) so that they will not be deceived. It has never been -- nor shall it ever be -- my intention to bash any particular pastor or teacher; my sole purpose in bringing attention to false teachings is to make Christians realize that we are to be followers of Jesus Christ, and not to be followers of any man (or woman) and his (or her) ministry. I hope that you will be blessed -- as well as challenged -- by the things that I write.
NOTE: COMMENTS ON ALL POSTS CLOSE ONE MONTH AFTER THEY ARE PUBLISHED.
Thank you for stopping by and taking time to read some of my posts and poems.
God Bless You
~Mary - Living4HisGlory
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog's author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Mary K. Dalke and Living4HisGlory Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
NOTE: Any adds that may be displayed on my blog have not been chosen or approved by me; I can't even see any adds that WordPress chooses to post here.
(SOURCE) http://newlife.nyc/vision/
This is sometimes referred to as spiritual romanticism; it is a completely unbiblical form of thinking in which we view Jesus Christ as our “lover.” This is frighteningly becoming a more common belief among professing Christian teachers (such as Ann Voskamp), and it leads Christians down an unbiblical and dangerous path! 
Picture was quick captured from the video above)
Mary Dalke - Living4HisGlory
Living4HisGlory 