You are currently browsing the yearly archive for 2011.
Caryl Matrisciana on Hinduism
Posted on October 14, 2011 by M’Kayla
Caryl Matrisciana, author and filmmaker, tells an interesting story here of her Hindu-influenced Roman Catholic upbringing while living in India, her delve into “new age” and the night she recognized her need for salvation through Christ. In this interview by Christ in Prophecy, she makes the striking connection between Hindu thought and current thinking that has invaded our churches.
Watch the Video HERE
STANDING OVATION FOR HOMOSEXUAL PASTOR
by David Cloud
(Friday Church News Notes, October 14, 2011, http://www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)
The first homosexual was ordained last week in the Presbyterian Church USA under a new rule allowing such ordinations. When Scott Anderson was ordained at the Covenant Presbyterian Church in Madison, Wisconsin, the crowd “gave him a thunderous standing ovation and began roaring with cheers” (“U.S. Presbyterian Church Ordains First Gay Minister,” FoxNews, Oct. 8, 2011).
What an amazing fulfillment of Bible prophecy to see a “church” roaring its approval for moral perversion. The hour is obviously very late.
“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” (2 Peter 2:1-2).
We are warned in Scripture about ear-tickling teachers who just want to give the feel-good message to us no matter whether it’s truth or not. We’re warned about doctrines of demons, demonic lies, destructive heresies, myths, perverse teachings, commandments of men rather than God. We’re warned about speculations that lofty ideas raised up against the knowledge of God. We’re warned about deceitful spirits. We’re warned about worldly fables. We’re warned about false knowledge, empty philosophy, science falsely so-called, traditions of men, worldly wisdom, corrupters and adulterers of the Word of God. We’re warned about all of that. We’re warned about the wolves in sheep’s clothing who come along to devour us. They come as if they are prophets, they turn out to be destructive agents of Satan. I mean, we have these warnings all over the place in the New Testament. They’re also everywhere in the Old Testament.
And to put it simply, there is a world of chaos and confusion out there and Satan is very adept and very clever and very powerful and very systematic in the structure of evil that is wrapped up in the system in which we live. Against that is pitted the truth of God. We have to be able to discern the difference.
If you understand the warnings of the Bible and you understand how critical it is that you know the truth, that you have discernment. You cannot be gullible. You cannot be sucked off into error without dishonoring God. God is truth. He is revealed truth. He loves truth. He has given you the Holy Spirit to lead you into all truth. He’s given you His Word which is truth. How terrible it is to think you might drift into lies. But people do it all the time, even people who sit in churches under very often weak teaching.
http://web.gty.org/resources/Sermons/TMC209_Principles-for-Discernment-Part-1#.TmkXIOyC7T0
.
There are three kinds of false prophets, I see in the Bible, three kinds, and this is a definitive statement that might help you in understanding it. Three kinds, number one, is a heretic, this is somebody who comes along and says, that’s not true, that’s a lie, I don’t believe the Bible and teaches heresy. Or even says I believe the Bible but teaches a heretical doctrine by twisting it, somebody whose doctrine is obviously, openly heretical.
Secondly is an apostate who denies the faith, who denies Christianity, who apostatizes, departs from it. The first two aren’t tough to spot, it’s easy to spot false doctrine, isn’t it? Just take your Bible and check it, it’s easy to spot apostasy because they’re denying it. And beloved may I hasten to add to you that both of these are dealt with in verse 6 of chapter 7, they are the hogs and the dogs. It says, “Don’t cast your pearls before swine or before dogs, giving that which is holy.” It’s easy to see the hogs and the dogs, they’re in the vomit and the mire. You see the first two kinds of prophets, false prophets the heretics and the apostates are made manifest. …………………….
It is the third kind of false prophet, I call the deceiver, that is the one Jesus is referring to here, this is the one you don’t see, this is the one who comes with the cloak of the shepherd. This is not the cultist, this is not the Mormon or the Jehovah’s Witness or, or somebody who belongs to Christian Science who, who openly and flagrantly teaches false doctrine, those are apostates or heretics. This is the one who talks about Jesus and he talks about the cross and he talks about God and he talks about the Bible and he talks about the church and the Holy Spirit and he hangs around with people that are true Christians and he mingles within the framework of evangelicalism, and he’s on the radio and he’s on television and he’s in the pulpit and he’s on the platform and he writes the books, and he always looks like a Christian. That’s the one Jesus refers to. Not heretics, heretics are obvious. Apostates are obvious too because they’ve denied the faith. But these are subtle. The Lord is not warning us against heretics, He’s not warning us against apostates, He’s warning us against people who sound like they teach the Gospel, who sound like Christians, who use the speech of the Bible, the speech of the Gospel, but it’s only a guise. They express orthodox terminology.
{Red Clover} from a facebook comment
(Friday Church News Notes, October 7, 2011
by David Cloud
Saddleback Church recommends a wide range of books on contemplative mysticism at its web site. Spiritual Disciplines Handbook by Adele Calhoun, for example, has been listed under the “Spiritual Growth” section for at least the past two years. Rick Warren, senior pastor at Saddleback, pretends that contemplative prayer is merely getting alone in a quiet place to meditate on God’s Word, but it goes far beyond that. Warren says that contemplative prayer is nothing like yoga, but as a former member of a Hindu meditation society, I can testify that practices such as centering prayer are definitely yoga-like.
Adele Calhoun recommends Roman Catholic monastic practices which were, in turn, borrowed from paganism, as we have demonstrated in our book Contemplative Mysticism. Calhoun lists Roman Catholics as “spiritual tutors,” including M. Basil Pennington, Henri Nouwen, Peter Kreeft, William Meninger, Francis de Sales, Richard Rohr, William Johnson, Teresa of Avila, Thomas Keating, John of the Cross, Brother Lawrence, Tilden Edwards, Ignatius Loyola, St. Benedict, Thomas Merton, John Henry Newman, Julian of Norwich.
Not only are these deeply misguided individuals laden down with Catholic heresies, but many were led by their mystical practices to universalism, panentheism, and even rank idolatry. (For example, Thomas Merton worshipped Buddhist idols.)
Calhoun recommends following the Roman Catholic church calendar, seeking spiritual direction from Catholic orders, and visiting Catholic retreat centers. She describes a pilgrimage she took with 30 women in her “covenant group” to visit the sites of Catholic mystics and to study their practices. She recommends a whole slew of unscriptural contemplative practices, including the Jesus prayer (vain repetition), palms up palms down (psychological visualization), lectio divina, imagination prayer, centering prayer, breath prayer, practicing the presence, silence, and spiritual direction.
She recommends the use of single words as a mantra to drive away conscious thoughts. “Choose a simple word … Let this word guard your attention. … When your thoughts wander let them drop to the bottom of your mind. Don’t go after them. … Imagine your distracting thoughts are part of the debris floating in the current of a river. Don’t try to capture these thoughts; release them and let the river of God’s life carry them away.”
In describing her mysticism she quotes Richard Rohr, “Prayer is not primarily saying words or thinking thoughts. It is, rather, a stance. It’s a way of living in the Presence.” This is not biblical contemplation; it is blind mysticism. Even when it comes to devotional reading of the Bible, Calhoun discourages “mentally critiquing or exegeting the text.” Rather, the Bible is to be used as a launching pad for mysticism as the practitioner refuses to “analyze” it but merely “listens and waits.” It is impossible to exaggerate the danger inherent in contemplative mysticism, and it is impossible to warn too loudly and plainly of the spiritual blindness of those “evangelical” leaders who are promoting it.
Only Scripture: Part 3
By Pastor Anton Bosch
“Do not go beyond what is written”
(1Corinthians 4:6)
Adding to the Scriptures is a very old problem amongst religious people. The Rabbis were particularly adept at adding many books, sayings and traditions to the Word of God.
This had become such a problem that Jesus said: “you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. In vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” (Matthew 15:6,9). In spite of all their knowledge, they had forgotten that written into the Law was the clear command that “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it” (Deuteronomy 4:2). (This instruction is also repeated in Deuteronomy 12:32, Proverbs 30:6 and Revelation 22:18-19).
Instead of learning from the mistakes of the Jews, the church perpetuated this trend of adding to the Word. These added extras take the form of traditions, church council decisions, creeds, apocryphal books etc. This had become so bad that at the time of the Reformation what the big denominations believed and practiced had become absolutely devoid of truth.
Full article HERE
“33 minutes that will rock your world”
Based on the book, “Hitler, God and the Bible”
TAKING SPIRITUAL DOMINION OVER
DARK ANGELS
By Gaylene Goodroad
and The Discernment Research Group*
Only the most naïve would imagine that an aggressive assault on the kingdom of satan would be met with anything but a desperate fight. That is why satan and any of his principalities or powers attempting to stop the spread of the Gospel must be bound…Binding and loosing, therefore are extremely important weapons which must be found in the arsenal of all those who desire to win the lost for Jesus Christ.[1]
~ C. Peter Wagner, NAR
To partner with Jesus in fulfilling the Great Commission,… the church must renounce fear and fatalism and recover the prevailing faith behind Paul’s frontal attack against the forces of darkness… [Christ’s] church must learn to contend, to wrestle with and throw down its spiritual adversaries…. The church, functioning as the house of prayer, the governmental ekklesia, is the correct context for Jesus’ teaching on binding and loosing…[it] is a council of war at the highest level. With Christ as our Head, we are bringing heaven down to earth and barring hell’s invasion.[2]
~ Lou Engle, TheCall/IHOP
The Bible subsequently reveals that it is the believer’s responsibility to “ask” before God will respond, to bind and release on earth for heaven to do the same, and that part and parcel of the Great Commission is the duty of the church to cast out demons and to tread over the power of the enemy. Apparently when we do, we send shock waves through the heavenlies![3]
~ Tom (and Nita) Horn, Christian author/publisher/speaker
THE GODS WHO WALK AMONG US
Prayer Warfare methodologies conceived and borne out of the Latter Rain Movement and nurtured under the New Apostolic Reformation are going mainstream. Twenty years ago, Chief NAR apostle, C. Peter Wagner, applied his Church Growth teachings to the spirit realm in what he termed Strategic Level Spiritual Warfare (SLSW). The plan calls for identifying “territorial spirits” (demons) of a geographic locality, then devising practices (such as militant intercession and fasting)[4] and techniques to defeat these unseen foes so that cities, nations, and beyond will respond to the Gospel.[5]
Sadly, this heresy is creeping into conservative Christian forums unawares through various prophetic ministries concerned about the eschatological implications of transhumanism and loosely related subjects.
Full Article HERE
In his homiletical commentary on Ephesians, Harry Ironside tells about meeting an older, very godly man early in his ministry. The man Andrew Fraser, was dying of tuberculosis, and Ironside went to visit him. Fraser could barely speak above a whisper because his lungs were almost consumed by the disease. But he said, “Young man, you are trying to preach Christ are you not?”
“Yes I am,” replied Ironside.
“Well,” he said, “sit down a little, and let us talk about the Word of God.” He opened his Bible, and until his strength was gone he unfolded one passage after another, teaching truths that Ironside before that time had not appreciated or even perceived. Before long, tears were running down Ironside’s cheeks and he asked, “Where did you get these things? Can you tell me where I can find a book that will open them up to me? Did you get them in a seminary or college?”
Fraser replied, “My dear young man, I learned these things on my knees on the mud floor of a little sod cottage in the north of Ireland. There with my open Bible before me, I used to kneel for hours at a time and ask the Spirit of God to reveal Christ to my soul and to open the Word to my heart. He taught me more on my knees on that mud floor than I ever could of learned in all the seminaries or colleges in the world.”
Excerpt from “Living by the Book: The Joy of Loving and Trusting God’s Word”
A study of Psalm 119
James Montegomery Boice
* Evangelist Lester Roloff*
Every man must repent of his sin. What is repentance? John the Baptist told the people to bring forth fruit meet for repentance (Matthew 3:8). I want to say this to my preacher brethren. I really mean this. We ought not to be too hasty in getting them to join the church, if they haven’t repented. It doesn’t hurt for them to prove their faith for awhile. It doesn’t hurt for them to prove that they have been saved by the grace of God and their lives are changed. John said, “Bring forth some fruit meet for repentance.” What are the fruits?
Number one would be a new heart and a new start. You’ll become new. The Bible says that “old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). One fruit of that experience ought to be restitution. I believe we ought to make right what we can make right. What if I was staying with a group of preachers and one of them stole my wallet while I was sleeping? The next day he comes up to me and tells me he is terribly sorry and asks me to forgive him. I would be glad to hear that he is sorry for stealing my wallet, but I would certainly want and expect more than that from a repentant thief. I would want my wallet back! I don’t believe he has really repented unless he brings my billfold back. I DON’T BELIEVE YOU HAVE REPENTED UNTIL YOU GET RIGHT AND SAY, “LORD, I’M GOING TO LIVE DIFFERENT FROM NOW ON,” AND BY THE GRACE OF GOD YOU WILL LIVE DIFFERENT.
I don’t believe you ought to smoke another cigarette. I don’t believe you ought to have to taper off in your liquor drinking. I believe you ought to cut out your gambling. When you get saved FROM sin, you ought to stay out of it. I’m not saying that you will be perfect the rest of your life, but I will say this: you will hate sin the rest of your life. If you can live in sin as the habit of your life, you have never been saved.
I believe that when a man really gets saved from his sin he ought to make a public profession of his faith in Christ. I don’t believe in these little secret decisions. We’ve had too much of this “Ya’ll just slip down the isle.” Slip, nothing; come a walkin’ and a talkin’ and a weepin’ and a repenting. It’s all right for the devil’s crowd to slip around, but we’re not slipping anywhere. You’re not going to slip into heaven. We’re going to go there by grace through faith!
And if you think I’m trying to get a report, with a bunch of “decisions” and a bunch of cards to haul off or share or do anything else with, in the first place, I don’t have anybody on earth that wants my report. I don’t care about a report; I want to see people saved. I want to see the church revived. I want to see the cause of Christ flourish in this city.
As sure as we live, it is God who must bring about Bible repentance. Have you repented? “…except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3,5).
Repentance is a godly sorrow for sin. Repentance is a forsaking of sin. Real repentance is putting your trust in Jesus Christ so you will not live like that anymore. Repentance is permanent. It is a lifelong and an eternity-long experience. You will never love the devil again once you repent. You will never flirt with the devil as the habit of your life again once you get saved. You will never be happy living in sin; it will never satisfy; and the husks of the world will never fill your longing and hungering in your soul.
Repentance is something a lot bigger than a lot of people think. It is absolutely essential if you go to heaven.
The previous is from a sermon by the late Evangelist Lester Roloff. It is excerpted from sermon #R03404 from Roloff Evangelistic Enterprises, Corpus Christi, Texas —
DiscernIt 
Recent Comments