Frauds? I'll Let You Decide

Reformed Geek posted a video with the famous atheistic-psychic from the UK (what a nice combination) Derren Brown. The clip really helps to build the point in which I made in my post on Jude 4.


In Geek's post, he concluded by asking several rather thought provoking questions to "up" his comments. After watching the clip I thought I would answer the questions in which he proposed in more detail than I could do in a comment. Here they are:

Q1. What are your first thoughts after watching these videos?

What an original question! Immediately after watching, I conjured several thoughts. Probably the most profound is the fact that men are easily deceived. The millions that have gone to healing services and "met God" when our Charismatic friends waved their hands in the air are great examples of this simple fact. If some atheistic-psychic from the UK can do it, we have problems.

Men, however, are not only vulnerable in "Instant Conversion" to believe a lie, but also in the full extent of what we believe. A tremendous amount of discernment is necessary when you listen to any teacher. They are mere men, and their beliefs are not to be, by any means, a final authority in our search for absolute doctrinal truth. They can be deceived by others, the same way that we can.

Q2. Does this strengthen your passion for Sola Scriptura?
More than you could imagine. When you reject Sola Scriptura (by Scripture alone) you begin to do nutty things of this nature. The moment the Word of God is removed, Satan fills the void. Do you realize what whack-you-in-the-head healing is? At it's core, it is nothing more than you giving lost souls a "feeling" that will lead them to believe that they are okay with God because He has spoken to them in a special way. The belief that you are okay just the way you are, is a horrific example of the utter blinding of a soul. If nothing more, Derren Brown should cause us to cling to a literal, exegetical study of the Scriptures.

Q3. Do you think these videos (along with appropriate biblical teaching) could help bring people out of the dangerous “experiential theology” type movements?
This video could back-up what the Bible already says. We have been warned of false teachers who will do whatever they can to make a buck and I feel that this video can help to authenticate that. It gives the impression that all you have to do is orchestrate things in a way that would give those in the audience the desired experience, and oodles of green goodness will start pouring in (just be sure to let everyone know who to make checks out to).

If you would like to bring people out of this garbage, you are going to need Bible to back yourself up. As in any area, presenting a biblical foundation to your position on an issue is crucial. It is God and His Word that presents truth to those who have been deceived.

Q4. Do you have any other comments?

I would like to say this. I believe that God can and does heal miraculously. He is the sovereign ruler of all of creation, and he heals as he wills. However, nowhere in the Bible is there any account of someone waving their hands over a person's face and receiving the Holy Spirit. This indwelling only occurs when one is renewed by the saving blood of Jesus Christ. Please do not mark me down as rejecting the work of the Holy Spirit. God can, and does do amazing things when His children beseech Him continually in prayer, not when they push people over.

NO MORE - A Public Apology for My Laziness

Have you ever started something, caught fire, and then burned out? This is something that I experience quite frequently, to tell you the truth. I'll find something that I really like to do, do it for awhile, and then seem to slowly stop. It is a real bad problem...

Well, as you have noticed, this is what happened with this blog. I began with quite a bit of gusto, but over a few weeks found other things to do. To my dismay I have seemed to have stopped blogging all together. It is rather pathetic to say the least.

Today I am here to say...
NO MORE!
NO MORE will I fail to uphold my responsibility to give you a daily bit of my astounding amount of sheer wisdom.
NO MORE will I be guilty of not sharing my perfect theology with all of you heretics.
NO MORE will I allow others to ridicule me for my lack of posts.
NO MORE will I read my Bible instead of writing a po... scratch that...
NO MORE will I be the lazy scoundrel that I have been for the past several months.

I have come to realize that God had me to be saved at a rather young age and with that privilege, he has given me the ability and responsibility to communicate the doctrines found in Scripture to youth. If the Lord tarries, I will only be a teen for another six years and after that I will just be another old guy in my twenties, and before I know it, this life on earth will be finished.

With that thought in mind, I have decided to commit to blog at least somewhat faithfully (Lord willin') for at least the next six years. This blog is going to be directed towards teens, however, I would hope that it will be encouraging to all of you old"er" gents' out there.

I am truly am looking forward to meeting with each of you every day on your computer screens once again.

Listen to This or be Square, Buddy

If you are unmarried and human here is a public service announcement for ya':
"You must listen to Paul Washer's message on Biblical Dating (that's an oxymoron if you are slow)." Okay, let me rephrase that... "If you do not take an hour out of your day to listen to Paul Washer's message on Biblical Dating (that's an oxymoron if you are slow), I will come to your house and scream as loud as I can into your bedroom window at 2 in the morning until you complete the task at hand. Quite frankly, you have no choice in this matter."

Understand?

Not only will you sleep better at night, but more importantly you will receive absolutely wonderful council on a subject that will effect your life more than you could possibly imagine. Not seeking wisdom in this area while you still can, is what I believe we call outright stupidity.

If you are married, you can wish that you heard this when you were thirteen! :o) Seriously. You can also give this to every teen you come in contact with. That's why God made CD burners!

You can download the MP3 file by right-clicking HERE and then "Save Target As". As for all of you in the mac cult I'm not sure what you do. I guess that you can just smile and look pretty.

A Whole Lotta' Gobbeldy-Goop: Coming to a Church Near You!

No, I am not dead, just a bit lazy...
Jude 4
"For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ."

When Mao Zedong, a dictator of China, wanted to indoctrinate his people with his corrupt philosophies, he constructed a plan that was rather ingenious. As we look at his goals in which he set to accomplish, we see that these are very much being applied in our laodecian church age. These men and women who have crept in unawares are filling our minds with ungodly doctrine that will destroy us from the inside out.

Mr. Zedong began with a short booklet which became known as "The Little Red Book". He penned his philosophies in an extremely subtle way, so that it would be appealing to the average citizen. He promised equality, peace, no more war, and so on. It all seemed wonderful, new, and exciting at the crust, but as you dug deeper it wasn't long until you realized that he was about to destroy the lives of millions.

He made it a priority to get this booklet into the hands of every man, women, and especially child that he could. It was required reading in every school in the nation, was taught from preschool up and was to be read, carried, and put into practice daily. As these teachings were given to the people repetitiously, they slowly adapted to its doctrine.

Now, I realize that what our Emergent church is doing is not exactly the same as that of communism. However, I believe that it is close enough to communicate my point effectively. I am not contrasting any modern church leader with Hitler, please do not misunderstand me. Me point is simply that damnable heresies (we'll call them Gobbeldy-Goop, because that sounds cool) will destroy the church the same way that communist teachings will destroy a nation. Fair enough?

The individuals that the passage is attempting to warn us of are men and women that have taken the beautiful grace of God and have distorted it into a teaching of lasciviousness, or lust. They cause the church to be covetous and come to salvation only to receive earthly possessions. They see these teachers living on "easy street", driving forty-thousand dollar vehicles, living in homes that cost more than most people make in thirty years, dressing like they are royalty and then promising that if you give your "first-fruits" then God will give you everything you could ever imagine. Every illness that ever comes your way will be gone instantly, you will never have financial hardship, and your marriage will be smooth sailing. All without any effort from you. It sounds great! However there is only one tiny problem... IT'S NOT WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES, MY DEAR FRIEND! Quite frankly, Scripture teaches the exact opposite!

God is not a universal butler! He is the sovereign ruler of the universe! He controls you, not the other way around! God never promises wealth to those who come into a relationship with Him. Yes, He promises an abundant life in John 10:10, you open up Foxe's Book of Martyrs, and you will see that all of those men had "abundant" lives! They dealt with pain, suffering, and hardship on a daily basis!

You see, when souls start coming to God for great riches, it destroys the majesty of Christ's death. If you come to Christ because you are looking for Him to remove the burden of sin that keeps true happiness from entering your life, then you really don't gain anything. Everyone else will continue to sin, and the world in which you live will remain spoiled even though your sin has been "lifted". Happiness will not come when you go around telling others that you are a Christian, things are just going to get worse. They will break all ties with you. In their eyes you have become a religious fanatic. You will be forced to run as far away from God as possible if you want to be accepted again, and you will be left in the same place as when you started.

The prosperity gospel is, as you see, a whole lotta' Gobbeldy-Goop, and it's coming to a church near you!

In churches across the globe pastors see the need to throw away the gospel of the Bible, and go to a more "upbeat" one. They make movies about football winning, born-again, evangelicals who come to Christ to win football games. They transform their bathrooms to look like a motorcycle, they have obscene skits, and make everyone feel happy and accepted inside. There is no Bible... just fun!

These philosophies are then written down in self help books for millions to read. Each reader being swept into their nonsense. These souls, having a false assurance of salvation step off of this earth confidently, only to find that they were serving an idol that they have made for themselves, falling into the pits of an literal hell that they were never warned of. It truly is rather devastating.

What can you do to help? No, making up signs and picketing their churches won't accomplish a thing. Making fun of them isn't going to solve the problem either. We need to "earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" as verse three states. We need to realize that these teachers are out there, looking to destroy our gospel message to fill their wallets. As a result we need to make an effort to contend for the faith. We need to fight against these teachers and have solid, biblical answers as to why their teachings are complete Gobbeldy-Goop.

These men are not hidden away in some small country church in Iowa. They boast of having the largest congregations in the nation! Their books are selling like wild-fire! This is not a secondary issue my friend. Our foundations are being destroyed! Hold your ground! Fight! Contend for the faith! Do not allow yourself to fall into this garbage. Cling to the biblical foundations that have been set so plainly for us. Do not let these false teachers make the church of no effect.

Good Old Peculiar Preachin'

A friend of mine preached a great message last Tuesday on the topic of being a peculiar people. He presents the message better than I ever could! He calls it "Play-Dough Christianity". Why didn't I ever think of that...

CLICK HERE to listen! (The sound quality isn't the best. It sounds like Steam Boat Willie, but I'm sure you can bear it.)