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MARCIA’S STORY: A STRANGE BUT TRUE SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
Spirit guides, meditation, astrology, the “higher Self,” raising the kundalini, developing psychic abilities, praying to gurus, astral travel, numerology, Tarot cards, contacting the dead, hanging out with witches, Sufis, followers of Muktananda, Rajneesh, Sai Baba, Maharaji, — all these and more were part of my journey. How did I get on this path?
The beginnings
I grew up with an agnostic father and a mother who was raised going to church. My sister and I had to attend church, because my mother thought that was the right thing to do, although she did not always go. Due to my father’s job in the Foreign Service, we moved around a lot, so we ended up in different churches located overseas and in the Washington, DC, area. Eventually, I became serious about religion. In high school, I had the idea that being good would please God and get me into heaven. But reading about other religions and meeting those who believed differently made me wonder. Maybe there was more to it than what I had — some knowledge of God and Jesus which was mostly superficial. I wanted something deeper, more experiential. I was also rejecting the idea of hell and was disillusioned with Christians. Christianity seemed defined by sermons, going to Sunday School, and doing good works. How boring! I was missing out on something! Also, I never fit in during my high school years. Being someone who wrote poetry, being in an alcoholic home, having no real roots all combined to make me feel different and unlike other people. I started my journey at the end of high school.
That journey continued through college where I had paranormal experiences, made friends with someone who said she saw auras, and attended spiritualist meetings where the ministers received messages from the dead. One bright sunny Florida afternoon, as I rested on my bed fully awake with eyes partly closed, I felt myself floating. I opened my eyes and was stunned to see my body on the bed below me as I hovered near the ceiling. I thought I had died. The shock slammed me back into my body in an almost painful way. This was my first out-of-body experience and I had no idea what it was or that it even had a name. I told no one about it.
The journey stretched into the 70’s when I visited psychics and an astrologer, and did a lot of reading on the paranormal, and about Hindu and Buddhist beliefs. I remember reading a book on Vedanta (sect of Hinduism) each morning in the cafeteria of the building where I worked. I started to see connections in my life with the colors of the chakras, the seven psychic centers of energy in the body according to Hindu beliefs. This and other experiences pushed me into an active plunge into the alluring worlds of the paranormal and Eastern beliefs.
Into the fire
In an Inner Light Consciousness class, I was introduced to my “spiritual master” during a guided visualization. This guide, a spirit being, looked kind and wise. I felt his presence with me and sometimes saw him in dreams and meditations until 1990. I also had unpleasant, scary and weird experiences and visitations, once seeing a tall hooded figure in dark robes looking at my body in the bed as I hovered out-of-body nearby. Although extremely frightened by this apparition, I rationalized it by telling myself that I was being tested. Another time, as I was out-of-body, I not only saw my body on the bed, but also saw a double of myself floating across from me. I had spontaneous out-of-body experiences that sometimes kept me from sleeping and that were also often very eerie. But to me, the paranormal was spiritual, and spiritual was good.
Another reason I accepted the scary stuff was my attitude. I liked to think I was tough and nothing could frighten me away. So I would think, “Go ahead, scare me. I can take it!” I had a lot of anger and defiance in me which probably came from dealing with an alcoholic parent. This angry defiance proved useful to me in many ways. It helped me get through a lot of painful situations, and it was going to help me deal with the bizarre experiences I would face. But anger and defiance over a long period of time easily turn into cynicism. I did become cynical although it was usually hidden, even from myself, behind a desire to help people. This defiant cynicism was my defense, as in “No one is going to stop me doing what I want; nothing can scare me away; and don’t try to impress me.” Later, after many occult experiences, the cynicism was deeper. I knew a lot of people had not done what I had, and I thought most people were wimps and satisfied with superficial lives, not searching deeply as I was. But this was my defense against getting hurt or feeling helpless.
I also learned to meditate, do psychic healing, analyze dreams, and chant. It was mystical and magical. When I first started to do Eastern meditation, I felt an incredible peace. I felt that I was fading away and merging with something greater. It seemed I was literally one with the universe, and the teaching that we are all connected to one force seemed true. After all, I believed that truth was in experience, and here my experience was confirming that belief. At last, I thought, I was connecting to that spiritual realm. Later, my studies took me on many paths — Tibetan, Hindu and Zen meditation and philosophy, spirit contact, numerology, psychic development, past life regression. Reincarnation seemed to answer questions and I experienced what I thought were memories of past lives. However, it was sad to think that my next life might not be so great so if I did not learn lessons from this or previous lives. But why dwell on that?
Finally, it seemed I was on the edge of a hidden wisdom, a truth higher than the everyday superficial thinking around me. Books by Edgar Cayce, Ruth Montgomery, Chogyam Trungpa (Tibetan Buddhism), Annie Besant (Theosophy), Hanz Holzer (ghosts), and Ram Dass (Hinduism/New Age), and titles like Seth Speaks, The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra, The Metaphysical Bible Dictionary, and Autobiography of a Yogi by Yogananda began to fill my shelves, along with books on astrology, tarot cards, numerology, and other occult teachings. My spiritual progress seemed assured, especially since I was having so many paranormal experiences. The natural result was that I felt I was an “insider” in the spiritual realm.
Unanswered questions
Over the years, my psychic experiences escalated. I studied astrology and took a 7-hour exam on astrology in Atlanta, Georgia, administered by the City but formulated and graded by an astrology board, in order to qualify for the business license. Passing the test, I started practicing astrology, and eventually I taught astrology, gave public talks, wrote for astrological and New Age journals, and sat on the board of astrology examiners that gave and graded the exams, becoming chairman of that board. I became president of the Metropolitan Atlanta Astrological Society in June, 1989. My Halloween birthday and astrological skills made me popular with witches and others.
I noticed that while doing chart readings for clients, I would “tune in” to the chart in a paranormal way, during which I felt an energy connecting my mind to the chart, and felt guided through the chart. It often seemed that I was being fed information or led to specific things to say about the client. After so many years of Eastern meditation techniques, I was slipping without effort into an altered state of consciousness while doing astrology. I gave credit to my “past lives” as an astrologer and spiritual counselor, to the help of spirit guides, and to astrology itself. In those years, the only source of such information could be good since I did not believe in evil.
Yet, with all the knowledge and experience I had acquired, what were the answers? Since I came to believe there was only ignorance, not evil, stories of vicious cruelty and murder made me uncomfortable. Though I believed I would be coming back after my death, where would I go in between and for how long? Some taught that we would go somewhere that was like a school, then choose our next life. Others taught that we go somewhere to be spiritually purified – how, it was not explained – then our next life would be chosen for us. By whom? That was not explained. We were supposed to just trust the process.
There was also the disquieting teaching that whatever thought was in my mind at the moment of death would determine the after-death experience for some time. Better not have a bad thought for too long! Better not fall asleep with fearful images! This was scary to contemplate — but that contemplation was itself a negative thought! I would often soothe myself by meditating or chanting something — maybe the “Hare Krishna” chant I had taught myself, or repeating a Tibetan Buddhist mantra like “Om Mani Padme Om.”
I sought peace in Zen Buddhism. Trying to detach myself from all desire involved a meditation that allows thoughts, fears, or desires to come up and then not to respond to them. This was to be applied to life outside meditation as well. For someone like myself, carrying a lot of emotional pain from my past and my present, this was appealing. But though detachment sounded good in all the books, there was a price to pay. The detachment seemed contrived and unnatural. Seeing “the emptiness” behind my surroundings, another sign of spiritual acumen, struck me as nihilistic and depressing. Maybe if I had pursued these practices more devoutly, I might have gradually replaced my natural reactions and feelings with non-feeling. But is it human to be non-feeling, to accept every thought, action, and emotion without judgment?
Being taught to be natural and “holistic” on one hand, but then learning to let go of my natural reactions on the other, seemed a contradiction. Of course, rational analysis like this was discouraged, even attacked. Therefore, contradictions could and should be accepted. If it didn’t make sense, so much the better. The idea was to transcend the rational mind which was a barrier between me and enlightenment. Although I failed in achieving detachment, I clung to the paradoxical teachings of Zen, reading books with Zen tales, and continuing the meditation. I noticed that the peace I had felt with my initial meditations had decreased, causing me to meditate more in an attempt to re-capture that elusive peace.
I also learned that the nature of occult and New Age thinking is that there is no one answer. There is no one single truth, and there is no one reality. Truth is based on your experience, so it changes and can differ from person to person. If there are multi-levels of reality and there is no absolute truth, then there must be many contradicting truths and realities. In the abstract, this was fascinating food for thought, and led to being comfortable with whatever truth I wanted. But on the practical level, what difference did truth make if one finally discovered it? Or how did we know if there really was such a thing? And if not, what did anything that anyone believed matter anyway? These teachings gave answers that only raised more questions.
Death and love
We are just drops in the ocean, I learned, and the goal is to eventually, after many lifetimes, rejoin the cosmic oneness that some call God. This God-force was what we came from and was our final destiny. So that meant my identity, memories, talents, and personality would be swallowed whole into the cosmic One. Where would I be? The disturbing answer was that I would no longer be. Death became an absorbing but uneasy topic for me.
The best way to help others and stay true to your path, I heard and read over and over, was to work on yourself and love yourself. Although talk of “love” was common and was taught to be the basis for everything, it also seemed that some used the “law of love” as a way to justify whatever they were doing. So, if your husband was not your spiritual match, then “real love” allowed you to leave him or find another with whom you had a true bond. After all, this was a “law” of the universe: the law of love. But this love was not defined. It was just sort of out there – a love force that pervaded the universe. There was no personal being to love me; there was this energy coming from the cosmic One and that was it. Could a force care?
Despite the meditations, trying to live in “the now,” and the talk of love, I continued to have frightening experiences. One of the worst was waking up to see an older woman staring at me from the bottom of the bed. I knew she was not flesh and blood, but a spirit. She did not speak, but I heard her in my mind say to me, “I am here to take over your body.” Too scared to speak, I said in my mind, “No! No!” This seemed to go on for a long time, although I have no idea how long it really was. Finally, she simply faded away. I was left trembling, perspiring, and my heart racing. By the way, I was not doing drugs.
The compulsion
An unexplained compulsion to go to a church gripped me in the spring and summer of 1990. Since I hated Christianity, churches and Christians by now, this made me angry. I first ignored this compulsion, then resisted it, and then, after struggling against it for awhile, I decided to give in, hoping that it would go away. It was probably from one of my former lives as a priest or monk, I reasoned.
In the opening minutes of a service in a large church in downtown Atlanta, I felt a love I had never known wash down over and through me, so powerfully that I started crying. I knew this love was from God, not from the music, the people, or the place. That love was the real thing. Coming from an alcoholic home, I was starving for that love. I returned the following Sunday, not to have another experience, but so that I could be where that love had happened to me.
After several weeks, I began to feel unclean about astrology although no one in this open-minded church said anything about it. All I knew was that it was somehow separating me from this God of love. I then got the impression that God did not like astrology and wanted me to give it up. Give up my life’s work? Give up my identity and purpose? Outside of my son, nothing was more important to me than astrology. But I felt I had no choice; it was so clear to me that God did not like astrology. Not even believing what I was doing, I decided to give up astrology in late 1990. At the time, I was chairperson of the curriculum committee, a member of other committees at the astrological society, and scheduled to teach an upcoming class. I had to find another teacher. I had to tell clients who called I was no longer an astrologer. (I did give a talk in February, 1991, after bad advice from a pastor and not liking what I was doing but not strong enough to get out of it. It took over a year for full comprehension of what I had been involved in to sink in.) Now what happens? Thinking I should read the Bible, I started reading in Matthew, the first book of the New Testament. Reading the Bible put me in touch with something pure, but I didn’t know what it was. Although I had read the Bible before while growing up and had quoted from it for astrological articles, this time it was different. I felt as though I was being cleaned from the inside out as I read it.
As real as it gets
This person Jesus fascinated me. It was as though I was learning about Him for the first time. One evening while reading part of the 8th chapter of Matthew, right before Christmas of 1990, I saw who Jesus really is. On the boat with His disciples, a terrible storm arose. The disciples were afraid and woke Jesus up, telling Him that they were going to perish. Jesus stopped the storm in its tracks! How? He did not visualize calm waters, He did not perform sorcery. He rebuked the winds and the sea, and they obeyed him. That means He has authority over nature. I was separated from God by everything I had done in my past — I had lived my whole life based on my will, a will that had rejected and defied God and His word. I realized that the only way to be forgiven, the only way to be reconciled with God, was through Jesus, the God-man who suffered and died for me out of a great and unconditional love. I realized Jesus is the Savior, He is the Son of God and God the Son. I understood for the first time why Jesus died on the cross. In those several minutes sitting on my bed with the Bible, I knew that the truth and the answer to all my questions were one and the same: Jesus Christ. What a simple but awesome truth! And so I gave myself to Christ and knew I belonged to Him from that moment on. Several months later, I found out that a young Christian man at the part-time job where I worked had been praying for me with a fellowship group at his church during 1990.
Jesus was different from the masters I had studied. He was more real than the spirit guides, the Ascended Masters, the Higher Self — all those airy, elusive things that gave no evidence of their existence — because He came to earth in flesh and He hungered, thirsted, felt pain and sorrow. He did not give a message that denied the dirt and dust of life, but He sat with the outcasts, the prostitutes, and the hated tax collectors yet remained sinless. He was as real as it gets. Though fully man, Jesus was fully God incarnate, equal to God in nature but setting aside that glory (not deity) to be among suffering men and women. Jesus Christ willingly was tortured, laid down His life and died an agonizing death to pay for our sins. He bodily rose on the third day, conquering death, so that we can have eternal life with God. No sorcerer, no spiritual master, no Buddha, no shaman, no witch, no psychic has conquered death, but all still lie cold in their graves. But Jesus has power over death and is living today.
Truth and satisfaction
Spiritually, I had been in a grave with the buddhas and the sorcerers and the seekers of wisdom who had rejected the truth of Christ. The complicated and intricate studies that had enthralled me, the endless layers of truths and realities I had pursued, the constant effort to evolve, the paranormal experiences, the need to believe in one’s own goodness at all costs, were all a maze and a trap. The truth was simple enough for a child because the truth is a Person. Jesus did not teach the way or say He had a way. He said that He is the way — not a way, but THE way.
Many people want to know if I had to wage spiritual warfare after trusting Christ. Well, a few months later, as I was about to go forward in a church to publicly proclaim faith in Christ, I got incredibly ill. When I went home, I got sicker. I felt an angry presence in the room and I thought it was my spirit guide. I basically told him I belonged to Christ and there was nothing he could do about it, that even if I died, it was too late. “You lose,” I said. I was addressing Satan, although I was really talking to my spirit guide. I do not believe in doing this now; I do not address demons nor Satan. They have already been spoken to and defeated by Christ. I prefer to speak to the ruler of the universe, Jesus Christ. I do not want to give demons any attention at all. Yes, I have had a few strange attacks that could be construed as demonic. But I do not like to focus on them. My focus is on the One who is worthy of attention: Jesus Christ, who has power over all rulers and principalities, in both the physical and spiritual realms.
What is the biggest difference between my former life and my life in Christ? That I am happier, that life is easier? Not at all. The difference is that I am spiritually satisfied. There is more to learn and much room to grow, but the learning and growth spring from Christ as the foundation, not from a search outside Him. The search has ended; the thirst has been quenched; the hunger within has been filled.
(You will find Marcia’s story with more detail in Chapter 10 of The Unexpected Journey (Zondervan) by Thom S. Rainer. This book contains the firsthand accounts of 12 people who came to faith in Christ from other spiritual beliefs and told their stories to Dr. Rainer. This book is sold on Amazon’s site and also on the CBD site at www.christianbook.com, and can also be found in or ordered by bookstores).
Jesus speaks
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” – John 14:6.“But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” – John 4:14“I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” – John 6:35“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.'” – Matthew 28:18
“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” – Revelation 3:20
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Here is Marcia Montenegro’s site
CANA Christian Answers for the New Age.
http://christiananswersforthenewage.org/AboutCANA_Background.html
http://www.letusreason.org/Default.htm
Mike Oppenheimer of:
Let Us Reason Ministries
MY TESTIMONY
I was brought up Jewish, went to Shabbat quite faithfully each Friday and celebrated the holydays at the temple and with family. Our family like many others, gathered together on the high holy days in observance. I attended Hebrew school twice a week and learned the language and eventually was Bar Mitzvahed and confirmed. While attending classes I asked a lot of questions about God the Rabbi could not answer. Though I continued each year, mainly to please my parents, I became less interested in the traditional religion of my parents and feeling hindered in my spiritual development, leaped head first into my own brand of freestyle spirituality after graduation.
By my own search in reading and attending lectures and gatherings I got involved in the New Age Movement, became a vegetarian and for 15 years practiced yoga and meditation. I ended up using psychedelic drugs for a time (LSD, mescaline etc.), as part of my regular religious observances and smoking “pakalolo” (pot) became part of my normal lifestyle. During these times I also experimented with various religions and the occult. I felt they each contained some part of the truth of the one “true” religion, just as Rosicrucianism teaches all religions are petals on the same flower.
I studied about the Ancient Masters of the East, learning about Buddhism and Zen I picked up on a number of the practices. I had a number of spiritual experiences which at the time I was sure were from God and leading me to a greater knowledge of myself and Him. I discovered and believed in the Ascended Masters that were guiding our world into a greater evolutionary path. I was involved with UFO’s and channeled messages. I was sure I was on the right spiritual path because of the various signs things just fell into place. At the same time I also read the Bible (even the New Testament), not denying my Jewish roots. I began reading over 50 books a year, having an insatiable spiritual appetite, but God was working on my exit out of this spiritual bondage.
I had also started to surf before beginning my spiritual pilgrimage. I fell in love with the sport and began traveling, surfing and entering contests. Surfing became my livelihood after I learned to shape surfboards for a living. I became the NY champion for a number of years and eventually the eastern surfing champion for two years. Hawaii proved to be an irresistible attraction due to its fantastic surf. I moved permanently to Hawaii with my girlfriend Kathy in the mid 70’s. This gave me more freedom to pursue both my first love of surfing and my freelance spirituality. We thought we were becoming enlightened. Reading books about the Ascended Masters involvement and “learning” about Earth’s past history on Lemuria and Atlantis. We desired to become servants of the New age movement, convinced that if we all united we could usher in an age of spiritual cooperation and enlightenment that so many were talking about. After nine years my searching came to a head when my girlfriend Kathy and I started to pursue our spiritual hunger more seriously and became involved in the “I Am Movement” (the Saint Germaine Society of the Ballard’s). Through calling on angels and powers unknown to us and by “decreeing” and using the Violet Consuming Flame to eradicate past life karma, we were learning to become active in the New Age Movement. At the time, Kathy was practicing affirmations, mantras, studying herbology, polarity therapy, kinesiology and learning about the supposed spiritual energies of the body. She also was a manager of a health store on the Island of Oahu.
At the same time, the Lord started moving ahead with His rescue plan and during one week we had two friends over who had recently became Christians. One was also a surfer that I knew from New York. We talked about end-time events for hours. Since I was familiar with, as I had been reading the Bible for years, and was especially fascinated about the end of the age. (At that time we both thought Christians were very narrow minded about their view of the Bible, God and the world. Kathy and I used to laugh about how the New Age was coming in without Christians even being aware of it, and were still trying to live in the old traditions and were not going to be part of it). Later that week my friends invited us to a seminar that just so happened to be on the New Age Movement with speakers Dave Hunt, Johanna Michaelson and Hal Lindsey. Talk about timing! It was also during that same week that I heard an audible voice say, “I am the Lord your God, you shall not want.” I recognized this was from Psalm 23 from my Jewish upbringing and had never experienced anything like it. Inside I knew this was the God I was searching for but still did not know. It was only later I would understand why this voice was outside and not from inside me.
I attended the Christian conference on Bible prophecy and the New Age Movement that week while Kathy stayed home doing her New Age affirmations. She wasn’t feeling well that day and unknowingly had really been going through a spiritual battle all that week. At the conference, I was shocked to hear the other side of the story. The information I heard seemed incredible. The speakers knew all about the occult techniques Kathy and I were following and practicing, and about the New Age Movement’s master plans. I spoke to Dave Hunt briefly during a break and he answered a number of important questions. One was why Jesus said, “why you have forsaken me?” Though I was reading the Bible all these years I could not understand the gospel contained in it. I was blinded by the viewpoints ingrained from the New Age influences. I was also challenged by Dave on the occult practices in which I was personally involved practicing. He was aware of the “I am societies” practices. One question he asked was, “If you’re God did you create the universe? I had never thought this through. If I’m trying to become god through all these New Age techniques, how could this be possible, when God was always all knowing and all powerful (according to the Scriptures and what I had heard through their speaking that night). It was through this question that a chain of events led to the Lord really ministering the truth to my heart and mind. When the conference resumed Johanna spoke and I was relating to a lot she had experienced, especially in regards to the Ascended Master “Jesus”. Then she spoke about another Jesus – the true Jesus of the Bible, which came as a total shock. I never thought there could be false Jesus’ parading around as the real one. They were only Jesus by name but not the One who is God come in the flesh. It all made sense. When she prayed my heart was pierced, I knew I had heard the truth, but the question was; what would I do about it?
All the way home I wrestled with the realization that I had wasted the past 15 years believing and doing the wrong things. (Prior to this I thought Christians were very narrow minded but now I had to reconsider that I was too open-minded and had bought into a lie.) I asked my friends who took me to the meeting numerous questions that were running through my mind. Being new Christians, they could answer only a few of them. They just kept saying to me, “we know the Bible is God’s Word and Jesus is the truth.”
Kathy was waiting up for me when I got home. It was late and she was actually scared that I would come home a Christian from the meeting! As I came in a peace came in the house and on her, as I sat her down and shared about how the Christians viewed the last days and how it wasn’t anything like what we were being taught in the New Age Movement. It was then that the Holy Spirit revealed to Kathy that not only were we following the wrong Jesus (2 Cor.11:4), but that we were worshiping Satan, and that he is a real being. Then the fear of God fell upon us and for the first time we got down on our knees and prayed to the true living God to forgive us for the occult beliefs we had been deceived into practicing. The Lord got the last laugh, but it was a pleasant one of victory.
The next morning we both went to a Christian church and the pastor got to the pulpit and said that he was told to change the sermon. He spoke on sin, Satan and Jesus Christ, we thought our friends had tipped him off but it was the Lord. We heard the gospel explained and dedicated our lives to the Lord, repenting and asking Christ to forgive us. Thank the Lord He intervened. We were saved together in the year 1986. It was later that week I found out that it was on the 20th anniversary of my confirmation day when God spoke that previous week to me Psalm 23. The last thing I read in front of the congregation in the temple 20 years before had been Proverbs 4:1-2 “Hear my children, the instruction of a Father, and give attention to know understanding. For I have given you good doctrine, forsake not my law.” Unfortunately, I did forsake His Law, for 20 years- but God brought me and my soon-to-be wife back. Five weeks after our spiritual birth Kathy and I were married and today have a 15 year old son who has been learning and become very interested in the debate of creation versus evolution among other interests.
Immediately, I began to study the Bible and learn apologetics in order to give answers to those who ask why we believe in Christ and why Jesus is God in the flesh. Since 1988 I have continued teaching on the cults and aberrant world views including how the cults deny grace and opt for works to be accepted by God. These include the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormonism, and also the occult (New Age world view) which is now very present inside the Church.
By the grace of God I have had the privilege to have taught at Hope Chapels, Calvary Chapels, Church of Christ, Youth With A Mission, United Methodist Church, Grace Brethren, Assembly of God and various other Hawaii congregations. I have also had the opportunity to share in small group studies around the Island and have been involved in a number of debates. The Lord has currently provided us with the opportunity to host a TV program and had live call-in broadcast called “Let Us Reason” on a local Christian station as well as featured on several other live radio broadcasts in Hawaii. I am currently a missionary for Witness Inc., the world’s largest counter cult ministry reaching out to Jehovah’s Witnesses.
In 1994 Let Us Reason Ministries was founded as an up-to-date apologetic resource center to instill both confidence and a desire to lead others to Christ. This is done by helping equip believers with both Biblical, and logical answers for their Christian faith. I have learned many things along the way that need to be passed on to others to encourage as well as equip them in their witnessing. It’s my hope that this ministry will be able to prompt believers to personally meet and evangelize people who are in cults and false religions as well as discern and call attention to false doctrine within the Church.
Mike Oppenheimer
(used with permission from Let us Reason)
Here is another testimony that you might like to read.
kim
https://kimolsen.wordpress.com/2007/12/25/a-testimony-of-a-former-new-ager/
and another
https://kimolsen.wordpress.com/2007/09/13/the-toronto-deception-by-former-tacf-pastor-paul-gowdy/
“Earnestly contend for the faith….pulling them out of the fire.”
Jude was the half-brother of Jesus. It is interesting that he refers to himself as “the servant of Jesus Christ, brother to James” and does not tell of his relationship to Jesus. He may have done this to give God the glory and not to attract attention to himself.
He wanted to write about salvation, but it was apparent that he felt it was necessary to write a different letter to the believers. This is a letter of warning for false teachers and false doctrines that are entering the church.
1. “Jude the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them, that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ , and called:”
Who was Jude writing to? “…them, that are sanctified by God”, “Called.” This letter written by Jude is to Christians or the believers. It is always helpful to know who the books of the Bible are addressed. So this book written by Jude, is a warning to the flock.
Jude is probably best known for this verse.
3. “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”
I would like to point out aspects of this verse and how it applied to us today.
“Earnestly contend for the faith.”
Let me rephrase this verse using terms from the dictionary. Seriously assert for the faith. Zealously struggle with those who oppose the faith. Sincerely maintain the faith. Speak forth the truth. Even though I like, speak forth the truth, the words struggle and maintain are just as relevant. “Struggle” because as time goes on there will be more and more opposition and “maintain” because it means to retain or keep the gospel as it is in it’s original form.
All these statements set forth what we are to do, but are we? Are we studying the Word daily with prayer so that we could recognize deception if we saw it? “…which was once delivered unto the saints.”
The truth was delivered once. It is not to be changed, altered or configured to one’s owns desires. “…unto the saints.” Who are the saints? Ephesians 1:1 “…the faithful in Christ Jesus.”
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.” “Crept in unawares?”
Remember this is the church, the believers, Jude is talking to. Men have c r e p t in u n a w a r e s . This is an alarming statement. It should make you look behind you to see who is crouching, getting ready to pounce. But the reality is that we are not always acknowledging the false teaching, because we are UNAWARE. Yes, we are unaware of all who are ungodly, condemned, denying God and Jesus, and turning God’s grace into immorality. How disconcerting… that there are those who have slipped in among us and we have not noticed.
Jude is warning us. You would think by their description we would recognize them. This would indicate another warning. If we cannot recognize these men…are we like them?
Look at this phrase…”denying the only Lord God.” How many are today saying that there are many paths to God? With the explosion of Eastern religion in the West, we will hearing this more and more. Contemplatives using eastern style meditation also are leaning toward this denial of Jesus Christ as the only way and the downplay of sin.What is implied is that these men know of God’s grace, yet….they use this grace as an excuse or pardon for sin. Also note the tense of this verse. It applies to all time. But these men are destined for condemnation and Jude gives examples.
5. “I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.”
Jude is saying that we should know why the Israelites were destroyed. Do you remember the story of how God led the Israelites with pillars of smoke and fire, fed them manna from heaven, parted the Red Sea, yet they still “believed not”? They did not endure to the end because of a lack of faith.Then Jude gives two more examples of punishment and judgment. The fallen angels are being held for judgment day and similarly Sodom and Gomorrah experienced the: 7. “vengeance of eternal fire.”
These ungodly men will experience a punishment similar to Sodom and Gomorrah.
6. “Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignitaries.” This is a startling description of these godless men, yet it says that we can be unaware they are among us. How can this be? Let’s look a few possibilities.
I have read some pretty strange words from those in the prophetic movement. Before I continue…my personal view should be made known. I believe the prophetic movement to be mostly false. I have read many of the prophecies and most are the same predictions over and over again. Many I believe are channelers and are not hearing from God. They are not discerning the spirits. Their methods of contact with the spirit world, mirror the occult practices that have been used for centuries. This divination is detestable to the Lord. Deut 18:12. Nevertheless, I do believe there are some believers who have been given dreams and visions. There has also been many downfalls and scandals concerning those who are involved in false ministries. Look at the countless who have sadly fallen due to sexual sin. There is a correlation between sexual sin and those who defile the flesh. Let it be said that much of it is due to ungodliness and those who give themselves over to other forces besides the Holy Spirit.
“Despise dominion and speak evil of dignitaries”.
My bible parallels over to 2 Peter 2:10 “But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government.” Presumptuous are they, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries.
Dominionism which is an end-time deception, involves two main situations. There are those who want to reconstruct the apostolic ministries of disciples and apostles, which is called the 5-fold ministry and then there is the idea that Christians need to dominate the earth and “take it back”. Those are who trying to create a new apostolic order in our churches are usually self-appointed apostles. They want to be in charge. They are rejecting God’s authority and those who are now ministering to the churches they want to take over. This was demonstrated recently by a young man who is involved with a deluded ministry. He wrote a book stating one has to ask permission of the church, to leave the congregation. What? Why should anyone in the church have this kind of control over the congregation? They shouldn’t but that is what is being put forth and implemented today. Any church that has this kind of power is a cult.
The time is here that the ungodly of this world are being called godly. We can see that the Dalai Lama was greeted with honor this year by President Bush. Would this same honor be bestowed to a Christian minister? The time is upon us that godly men will be labeled intolerant and that they are denying peace to our world. The fact that the bible says that Jesus Christ is the only way will become ridiculous to the “spiritualists” of the world. This is already happening. The narrow path to Jesus Christ is now being labeled as narrow-minded. Those who are “narrow-minded” will not accept the unity of religions and will be the fundamental outcasts. Those who will not accept the many roads to God will be the minority of the future. It is unfortunate but the future is already here.
If we jump up to Jude 10 we will find this of the godless men among us: “But these speak evil of those things which they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.”
What does “which they know naturally”, mean? Back to 2 Peter 2:12-13 “But these as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the thinks that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption. And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceiving while they feast with you.”
“How ironical that when men should claim to be knowledgeable, they should actually be ignorant; when they think themselves superior to the common man they should actually be on the same level as animals, and be corrupted by the very practices in which they seek liberty and self-expression.” (Green)
Many today profess to have special knowledge and prophesy falsely. One can prophecy from the soul instead of from God. Here, one who may be full of pride, purports to tell another what God’s will is. 2 Peter 1:21 says, “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” Does God speak to us directly? Yes, I believe He does. We can know his leading, and we should know His voice. His Still Small Voice. The Holy Spirit will guide us. But the rule is the Word of God. Those who go by what men say will be open to deception.
11. “Woe unto them! For they have gone the way of Cain…of Balaam…of Korah.” 12. “These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit witherith, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots:”
The false prophets are doomed because they have not the faith of Abel who offered his first fruits, but have murder in their hearts, the greed of Balaam, and the desire to be in charge like Korah (Cor-e) who wanted to replace Moses, but was swallowed up by the earth. Hatred, greed and rebellion . This was the downfall of these men. Do not follow anyone who resembles them. for they want to take you with them. Korah was destroyed as well as his followers, so look for godly and biblical teachers.Verse 12 does not refer to spots (blemishes) as angels but as sinful men. These spots partake of the agape feast which is meant to edify all. Instead the false leader feeds only himself instead of tending to the flock. These men are also like clouds without water, for they bring nothing to drench the crops and have nothing to drink for those who thirst.
These trees, or men, are “twice dead”. This is probably a reference to physical and spiritual death.
13. “Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.”
Those involved in the prophetic movement constantly give words about disasters, raging seas and tsunamis. But I bet they do not know that false prophets are called “raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame:” Isaiah 57:20 says: “But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.”
The wandering stars, may be as a shooting star which briefly lights up the sky and then fizzles out for good. What good is a wandering star? One cannot navigate by it, or be assured where it will be at any given time. These stars ultimately will see darkness forever.
Verses 14-15 speak of judgment. Jude is still talking about “them”, as Enoch prophesied, “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all..” Four times the word ungodly is used. “..and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches (harsh words) which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
What are the characteristics of these false teachers? Jude 16: “These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration [2296] because of advantage.”
Again we can refer back to the Israelites as they grumbled and complained while wandering in the desert. God was not pleased, and obviously He is not pleased with these ungodly teachers. Teachers walking after their own lusts, are pleased with their position and the recognition they receive. Great swelling words.
Have you read some of the prophetic words out there? God must have left out huge portions of the Bible because I don’t have a clue what these “words” really mean. Many words, come from those who have “special knowledge”. Again I believe in leadings from the Lord but one should stick to the written word.
You want to be deceived? Get on the “prophetic ministry” train, and ride through the tunnel of doom. The Greek word [2296] thaumazo also means to marvel or awe. So these men caused quite a stir in their audience. Don’t we see this today? Look at how many are marveling at the signs and wonders that false teachers are producing today. These teachers are using biblical phrases and teachings among the false manifestations. Many are not questioning where their power lies, instead desiring it for themselves.
Jude 17 “But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles our Lord Jesus Christ.”
These men were foretold by the apostles. This should be nothing new to us and so we should presently be expecting and discerning them.
1 Timothy 4:1 “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;” Acts 20:29 “For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter among you, not sparing the flock.”
Grievous wolves? Matthew 7:15 “Beware of the false prophets which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”
There are the wolves again. One description is ravening and one is grievous.Strong’s defines ravening [727] as ravenous, rapacious, robbing.Grievous [926] is violent, cruel, unsparing.Now the wolves [3074] are cruel greedy destructive men.
False prophet [5578] one who, acting the part of a divinely inspired prophet, utters falsehoods under the name of divine prophecies.So among us, the church, we have ravenous, rapacious, robbing, violent, cruel, unsparing, cruel and greedy men, who are acting the part of a divinely inspired prophets, uttering lies as divine prophecies. And we have difficulty separating these men from the true believers!
Jude 18 “How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.”
You know….. I am really sick of these guys but I must continue.
Jude 19 “These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.”
There are many today who are asking “Where is this God of yours?” One might expect this of the secular world…but leaders in the church? Yes, they are asking this if only to themselves. That is why there are those who are seeking to build a kingdom here on earth. Those who truly have “no spirit”, believe they do have a special mission here on earth to sate their passions of the things that are forbidden to them.The word sensual [5591] relates to the natural, governed by the breath, like the animal world, something in common with the brutes.In this verse “they who separate” [592] are the ones making divisions and disjoining the church. I wonder what spirit these men do have….?
So far, these verses have given us a thorough view of what these men are like and their ungodly ways.So now comes verses 20-25 What are we to do about these men?
Out of the next six verses, four tell us how to keep and present ourselves and the other two, how to deal with the ungodly men.
Jude 20-21 “But ye beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”
So first before we do anything we are to take a look at ourselves first. Are we building ourselves up in our faith? Are we seeking holiness? It is at this point that we can compare our lives with the lives of the false teachers. The Holy Spirit bears witness to us that we are children of God and that others who also walk in this spirit are members with us in the spiritual family of God, the church. If we walk this path following Jesus Christ, we know the direction and boundaries. Straying from this path happens to Christians, but there is a difference between stumbling, and getting up and going on.
Following Jesus Christ is the only way to contentment for those who love and desire Him only. We discover that it is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that we truly glorify God, and desire to grow in holiness to please Him and live a life set apart. How do we know that the Holy Spirit lives within us? We grieve over our sin. The Holy Spirit convicts us. We may still struggle with sin but we want to overcome it.
Pray for strength. Are you in Christ? Do you desire to grow in holiness? Have you set yourself apart from the world and its enticements? Are you actually pursuing this path or just meandering? We are to keep our eye on God.
Titus 2:13 “Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ;”
Jude 22-23 “And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.”
At first reading, I thought that making a difference, would be a result of my compassion, but this is not necessarily so.
Strong’s concordance says [1252] making a difference is:
“To separate, make a distinction, to try, decide, to learn, to withdraw from.”
So to make a difference is to discern these men and make a determination about them. Jude offers two solutions here.
The first is to make a distinction about them but to also have compassion, but we are to separate from these men. Here is where many fail. They do not know scripture and do not know how separate these men’s lies from biblical truths. Then there are those who know scripture but decide they prefer satan’s lies. Lies that satisfy the flesh.
God has called many out of deceit. God has pulled them out of apostasy, lukewarmness, and indifference. So we must have mercy and compassion on those who are stumbling but we must not follow them.
And others we are to “save with fear”.
[5401] save with fear. Dread or Terror.
We are to pull or snatch others from the fire. We are save or rescue them, hating the spotted garment. And why would we do this? Because those who walk with the Lord and have the Holy Spirit hate sin.
Okay….so who are those that we are to have compassion on yet stay separate and who are those that we are to pull out of the fire?
Are we to separate from the false prophets and snatch those who are listening to them? Hopefully, we are building ourselves up by praying in the Holy Spirit because we will need wisdom and discernment on how to approach others who are in error.
Are you in a situation with God, that you know you will never slip out of His hand? I mean you KNOW! Do you know that a life without Christ is impossible? A mediocre life in Christianity is no longer good enough for the regenerate. Do you know that your life is not in your hands anymore because you have given it back to your creator? Those who truly know Jesus Christ live every moment for the glory of His name.
One thing we do know is this:
Jude 24-25 “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.”
Thanks be to Jude who tells us we are to contend for the faith, and by its truths, snatch others from the fire.
I just wanted to provide a place for everyone to make prayer requests. We all have someone dear to us that needs the mercy of the Lord, or we may need some prayer for ourselves when we are discouraged from Satan’s attacks. We must expect oppostion from the enemy and prayer gets us through this. All that I ask is that when leave a prayer request make sure you pray for those who have left their own requests.
Be as specific as you like but keep it short. Make sure that anything you say about a friend or family member would not be embarrased by your request.
We have the Word of God to guide and teach us but prayer is how we communicate with the Lord which enhances our relationship with Him.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-92) was England’s best-known preacher for most of the second half of the nineteenth century. In 1854, just four years after his conversion, Spurgeon, then only 20, became pastor of London’s famed New Park Street Church (formerly pastored by the famous Baptist theologian John Gill). The congregation quickly outgrew their building, moved to Exeter Hall, then to Surrey Music Hall. In these venues Spurgeon frequently preached to audiences numbering more than 10,000—all in the days before electronic amplification. In 1861 the congregation moved permanently to the newly constructed Metropolitan Tabernacle.
Spurgeon’s printed works are voluminous, and those provided here are only a sampling of his best-known works, including his magnum opus, The Treasury of David. Nearly all of Spurgeon’s printed works are still in print and available from Pilgrim Publications, PO Box 66, Pasadena, TX 77501.
Always hungry for the Word, I have been enjoying the many quotes that people have been using from C. H. Spurgeon. I decided to take a look at a Spurgeon site and start reading some of his sermons.
It is like…wow…the truth…unadulterated messages from the Word itself. Oh, how spirit-filled this man was…you can read and hear it in his words. The words come tumbling out of his mouth as they are truly spoken from the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit filled words. How wonderful!…how….rare!
Seeing, example after example of false prophets, spouting new age ideas, ministering false gospels, I needed to read Spurgeon to assure myself that I knew the truth when it was being truly administered. Someone who knew scripture, who wasn’t turning it into pretzels, with circular reasoning, or snipping off part of a verse off with scissors and pounding it into an ill-fitting jigsaw puzzle of apostasy.
Here Spurgeon speaks of what is expected of the true mininsters of God and about repentance. Here is the link to this sermon, but below are a few timely quotes:
From the Sermon: Apostolic Exhortation.
“Accursed let him be that takes away from the gospel of Jesus Christ that he may win popular applause, or who bates his breath and smoothes his tongue that he may please the unholy throng. Such a man may have for a moment the approbation of fools, but, as the Lord his God liveth, he shall be set as a target for the arrows of vengeance in the day when the Lord cometh to judge the nations. Peter, then, boldly and earnestly preached the gospel—preached the Christ of the gospel—preached it personally and directly at the crowd who were gathered around him.”
“Oh! blessed readiness of a soul on fire with the Spirit, Lord, grant it to us evermore.”
“The object of the Christian minister should always be to withdraw attention from himself to his subject, so that it should not be said, “How well he spake!” but, “Upon what weighty matters he treated!” They are priests of Baal, who, with their gaudy dresses, and their pretensions to a mysterious power, would have you look to themselves as the channels of grace, as though by their priestcraft, if not by their holiness, they could work miracles; but they are true messengers of God who continually say, “Look not on us as though we could do anything: the whole power to bless you lies in Jesus Christ, and in the gospel of his salvation.”
“Go on, my dear brethren, preaching the gospel boldly, and be not afraid of the result, for, however little may be your strength, and though your eloquence may be as nought, yet God has promised to make his gospel the power to save, and so it shall be down to the world’s end.”
“We are not come to tell you that you must reform a little, and mend your ways in some degree: except you put your trust in Christ, forsake your old way of life, and become new creatures in Christ Jesus, you must perish. This—nothing short of this—is the gospel requirement. No church-going, no chapel-going, will save you; no bowing of the knee, no outward form of worship, no pretensions and professions to godliness- ye must repent of your sins and forsake them, and if ye do not this, neither shall your sins be blotted out. Thus much, then, on the first point: the apostle commanded men to repent and be converted.”
“When our Lord Jesus Christ was nailed to the tree by sinners, sin only did then literally and openly what all sin really does in a spiritual sense. Do you understand me? Those offendings of yours which you have thought so little of, have been really a stabbing at the Deity. Will you not repent, if it be so? While you thought your sins to be mere trifles, light things to be laughed at, you would not repent; but now I have shown you (and I think your conscience will bear me out) that every sin is really an attempt to thrust God out of the world, that every sin is saying, “Let there be no God.” Oh! then there is cause enough to repent of it.”
Oh Lord, I pray that those who are involved in false ministries will have their eyes opened to the truth. I pray that false teachers will see the result of their rotting fruit, and repent of their sin. Amen.
Prophesying and preaching the Gospel at a Psychic Fair
A group of IHOP–KC evangelists went to a psychic fair in Kansas City recently. They set up a table and began prophesying God’s destiny over approximately 100 people involved in New Age religion and witchcraft. God broke in and did amazing things. Since the weekend of the fair, people from the fair have contacted the evangelism team wanting to know where they can meet with them to recieve ministry, and several have been saved since. It was an exciting weekend, where the Lord moved and people were born again, including one of the mediums working the fair. Click below to read and listen to the testimonies. http://www.ihop.org/group/group.aspx?id=1000003885
Please read this article that I found on the IHOP website. There is so much wrong here that I can not begin to fathom it. Remember that the New Age Jesus is not the same as our Lord Jesus Christ. Satan comes as an angel of light and professes love and peace. I have highlighted many of the red flags in red….my comments in blue. I would like to add that it sounds as though some good came out of this, but hard to say.
***UPDATE*** IHOP has pulled this article from their website so the above link no longer works, but it is preserved here on my blog.
A Weekend with the Witches
By Ken DeBenedictis
I’ve been having these conversations with fellow believers about the “New Age
Movement” for years now. I know, I know… it’s evil. It’s deceptive. Witchcraft.
Demons. Cooties.. Look out their gonna get you..blah, blah, blah. I have to admit that the
very fact that it causes so much nervousness and controversy amongst the prophetic Body
of Christ makes me want to set my coordinates and head straight in. So when the
opportunity came for some friends and I to go to a Psychic Fair, I couldn’t have been
happier.
My friend, Erika had noticed an ad on a billboard announcing the fair and felt a tug from
the Lord to explore the idea of being involved. She gave me a call and the two of us
began to search out the contacts on the website that she read off the billboard. I gave the
organization a call and had a real interesting conversation with one of the head
organizers. He asked me who I was what I was wanting. I simply told him that we were a
network of friends called the “Mystics of Yeshua” ( this is deceptive) and that we wanted to be involved as
venders. He began to interview me and wanted to know just what kind of “vendors” we
were. Wisdom began to speak through me (to deceive another person?) and I explained that we work as a group of
interconnected “readers” and “seers” who channel Yeshua’s energy into people. We also
do aura cleansing. He seemed to like that answer and began to ask further about the
cleansing. I said that if people coming to us had any negative energy that they wanted to
get rid of, the pure light from Yeshua would remove any dark energy that they might be
carrying. I figured the answer was satisfactory, because the next thing out of his mouth
was him telling me we could have a section of the “reading room” and share it with the
other psychics and mediums.
“How much do you charge?” he asked.
“Uuhm…nothing”, I replied. “We believe that if you give this kind of service away free
of charge, it comes back to you somehow”.
He said he knew what I was talking about and put me on hold.
We exchanged information and were told the process of how to apply. Apparently the
registration was already past and this was a “unique situation” for the organization.
Nonetheless, within minutes I was told that we could have two tables and we could pretty
much set up the way we wanted. I thanked him very much for the opportunity and knew
right then that Yeshua was on the move.
Within two days we had assembled a team of eleven people through cell phones and
emails and gathered together at a coffee shop to get everyone on the same page. Our first
rule of thumb was no Christianese or church-language of any kind. (sounds like Willow Creek) If we were going to
get through to anyone in this environment, we had to speak THEIR language, not try to
make them understand ours. Speaking “energy” was a key and walking with Wisdom was
essential to this mission. In order to follow Him in this strategy, we truly had to be sheep
in wolves clothing.
Erika, Liz and myself arrived at the Community College where it was to be held and
strolled in past the crystal tables, wolf skins, and witchcraft how-to books. A hypnotic
toned base flute was playing in the background, as was the lingering smell of Nepalese
incense. It couldn’t have been more ideal. We found a stocked pond full of fish and we
were the only ones at this derby! We met the director of the fair and she told us that she
had been expecting us. We signed the code of ethics statement, which to my surprise
impressed me with their integrity more so than some of the prophetic ministries I have
been to. (?) We walked in with our gear to a wide-open expo center. There were stalls of
tarot card readers, psychics and mediums all around the edges of it with rows of chairs
for people to wait in the middle. I couldn’t help but think of some of the prophecy teams
that I have ministered with at prophetic conferences. Surprisingly, it was very similar in
appearance until I looked to my right to notice an albino woman’s eyes roll back in her
head as she read her cards for a nice young couple. Not exactly lining up with
1Corinthians 14:3, but it seemed to flow with the spirit of the thing. We proceeded over
to our area and by the director’s recommendation and grabbed two stalls next to each
other at a corner so that “our energies could stay together”. We politely thanked her for
her help and suggestions and began to set up shop. I looked over at Erika who was now
hugging one of the witches, and realized we had just entered into a large door of God’s
grace. It was truly remarkable how cooperative everyone was being and how much love
seemed to be exuding from us. The Lord was opening doors one right after the other.
It didn’t take long to get started. We put up our sign, anointed ourselves with oil and
prayed in tongues for a few minutes. When the time was right, Yeshua’s Spirit began to
lead people over one by one. Our first customers was a grandmother, mother, daughter
trio who sat there intently listening as Erika began to speak Word’s of Love into their
hungry hearts. It truly flowed like a river and within seconds woman number one was in
tears. We couldn’t believe how easy it was. Before long, a steady flow of people began to
come. We started getting in the groove pretty quick. We’d introduce ourselves, explain
what “Yeshua” meant, informed them that one person would be the “channel” while the
other would be the “oracle”. That there was no need for fear because it’s the same spirit
that’s working through both of us. We told them it would be pure love and light that they
would feel and to be open to receive it. Time quickly went by under this anointing and we
all felt the power of the Spirit upon us. I looked over at Liz who was now having a good
time with the folks, as she had her hands in the air trying to catch the next wave of Love
Energy. The wide-eyed couple across from her was whispering, “Yes, we feel it! Yes we
feel it”. It was quite a scene. The Lord was loving it. By now we were beginning to create
quite a buzz at the expo center and people began to ask about us to the people in charge
of the fair.
Like any good leadership group would do, they sent an inquiry.
“What is Yeshua?” a woman would ask.
We’d explain it in its most basic terms until; they decided that they too wanted a reading.
We knew we were being tested and gave them a quick prophetic word in the most loving
way we knew how. I didn’t think it was much, but apparently she did because within a
half hour we learned the registration people were sending people over to us. According to
them and a lot of the other readers, our energy was the “hottest”.
By the second day, we were in our flow. We now had three booths given to us and up to
five people ministering. My friend Doug who had stall number two had told me he had
never prophesied the way he was that day. His last customer had been prophesied over,
fell into conviction, (wow, this is actually good) accepted Yeshua, and was baptized in the Spirit in one shot. Many
were having similar experiences. I was finding that the majority of the people we were
talking to and “reading” were from denominational backgrounds and had never
considered this kind of thing coming from the “church”. It was truly amazing to learn just
how many people had been hurt by careless and uninformed pastors. I felt like for many
former Christians, this was their turning point. Many times, after “channeling” love
energy for a while, I would prophecy in the first person as if the Father was speaking to
His daughter or son. I’d begin to tell them about how I (or He) had made them, their
calling and their importance to Me (Him). How the Father had been there through any
specific hurt, wound or trauma in their lives and wanted to heal and wash them. That He
had now sent a prophet into their lives in a Psychic Fair to reach them in a personal way.
It was like an arrow being shot into their hearts. Tears of relief and joy rolled down the
cheeks of person after person. At one point, I looked over at all of our tables and noticed
every person was weeping.
One of those I spoke with reminded me of a female Bob Jones. I discerned she was a
psychic reader and began to prophesy accordingly. She gazed into my eyes intently as I
was speaking and then glared an evil glare. I stopped to look into her and told her that we
had a little negative energy problem and said that I would be not talking to her, but to it.
After sending Mr. Negative away in the name of Yeshua, the woman thanked me and I
continued to explain that her gift was a gift from Yeshua and that she had abused it. (this gift was not from Jesus!) That
instead of using it for the King of Kings, she had been using it to serve herself and the
spirit of Baal. Her eyes rolled back and she grinned a demon smile. But then the strangest
thing happened, as she seemed to come to her senses and looked at me as if for help.
Tears welled up in her eyes and she said that it had become so hard. She truly knew that
God had spoken to her and wanted to change. I told her that a prophet’s life was a hard
one and then we both started to weep as the Holy Spirit began to rest on us. I told her that
that the King was returning and sides were being taken. Who was she going to serve? I
looked into her eyes and I knew that for her to give this up meant that the demons would
kill her.( i have never heard this before) She grabbed my hand and thanked me and got up and left. I couldn’t believe
what the enemy was doing. It enraged me. There were so many of the Lord’s end-time
prophets stuck in the trap of sorcery and witchcraft. It made me all the more determined
to go in and pull out these trapped prophets.
Later that afternoon, Erica and I were approached by an older woman who had been a
reader/psychic in one of the other booths. She was about to go home for the day, but said
that something had made her come over to talk to us. My friend Liz had already
connected with her once and I knew that the Spirit had been working on her. She sat
down and Erika just bathed her in love and acceptance. I was ready to speak and the
Spirit began to swirl around my head. I know when this happens, it’s time to let ‘er rip. I
opened my mouth and began to speak the Word of the Lord to her. For some reason I
bypassed the “energy” language and spoke of Christ the King. How He was coming back
and that she was being called as a prophet to this nation. That she was loved and that the
Lord wanted her back home. Tears were streaming down her face as she wept in
repentance. She went on to say that as a Baptist, she was hurt by a pastor and never
returned. That someone had prophesied that her husband would lay hands on people and
see them get well. It had never been realized. I explained that the Lord had forgiven her
and was calling her to serve Him. Today. Right now. She nodded in agreement and the
Lord told me to anoint her with oil right there. I told her that I was accountable to God if
I did this and wanted a real commitment. I wasn’t playin’. I signaled for LeeAnna who
was sitting at the table next to us, to help us. She came over and the three of us baptized
this dear woman in the Holy Spirit for everyone to see. I continued to prophecy over her
life and spoke of how God had had spoken to her at thirteen years of age about so and so
and this and that. After we had finished, her eyes as big as saucers, she said that no one
but God would know what I had just said. (or the demons) She went on to explain that she had given her
life to the Lord at thirteen and He was reminding her of that. The swirl of the Spirit was
all over everyone. She cried, we prayed, and she said that she had been dreading the car
ride home, but now she couldn’t wait to talk with the Lord. She got up drunk in the Holy
Spirit and went home to do some “house cleaning”. The next morning at the fair, I arrived
to the expo to see the directors of the fair taking her belongings and her name badge out
of her booth. Joan had retired from her practice. She was now a prophet to Yeshua.
There were many other stories of salvations and tears. There were miraculous words of
knowledge and battles in the spirit. I even had a conversation in tongues with a witch. It
was pretty awesome. All in all, we all felt the Lord’s heart for people following the New
Age movement and how He is building teams like ours to go and plunder the enemy’s
camp. It just goes to show you that where the darkness is darkest, the brightness of His
light shines that much brighter. Let’s not miss these opportunities to shine.
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great Light; those who dwelt in the
land of the shadow of death, upon them a Light has shined. You have multiplied the
nation and increased it’s joy; they rejoice before You according to the joy of
harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
Isaiah 9:2-3
I have a book by Betty Eadie that was given to me long time ago. When I read it, it was greatly enjoyed. So many interesting concepts about heaven and Jesus. The title was “Embraced by the Light”.
For instance, Betty talks about her out-of-body experiences and shares her special knowledge with us. She went through the tunnel at death just like we have heard many times. She experienced the joy of meeting Jesus, who was warm and nonjudgmental. She was led through heaven and saw many wonders. She explains how she existed before being sent to earth and helped with creation, and that she got to select her next mission on earth. Souls got to select their missions on earth and learned how they would die, or what ailments they would experience, etc.
Now my purpose is not to explain the premise of the book except that it is deception. And I fell for it. Well I didn’t take it all in line, hook, and sinker, but alot of it. It was fascinating to think that she was sharing godly and eternal secrets with me. Things that I didn’t know or understand.
I look back at that little book and literally slap my forehead in disgust. Why couldn’t I see that it was ungodly, unbiblical, and heresy. I WASN’T WALKING WITH THE LORD THEN. oh!
I was a Christian and yet, didn’t see through it. I grew up in the church and knew the fundamentals. I had accepted Christ as a young girl and was a believer. But it wasn’t enough to keep me from deception.
When I was reading about Oprah and her new-age show, I saw that Betty Eadie had been a guest on her show. Still didn’t register. Then I saw a picture of her sitting on stage with Oprah and other New-Agers. hmmmm! Something is now beginning to penetrate.
Then I checked out a master book list, with all the new-age books listed. There she was again. AHA! It took a 2 x 4 from God but it finally reached the depths of my senile brain. I had been deceived by a new-age book! I had allowed it. I had enjoyed what it was telling me. I could be one with the flowers. She had described a rose in a garden that must have paralleled the Garden of Eden. She was part of the rose, all is one, God is all, all is in God….Is any of this sounding familiar? Like maybe… Pantheism, Panentheism.
I remember also that she said she received special knowledge, and that there was a huge library of information that could be instantly attained and understood. One was not to criticize any church or religion in any way because people were at different levels of understanding. Jesus thought them all precious. Also spirits were also available to help guide us and aid us in our development.
I had read this long time ago, but I was amazed at how much new-age philosophy I had retained. There is no way that I would believe any of this now. But I had at least considered it.
How vulnerable we are as Christians. No wonder bible scholars are saying, that if you are not grounded in the faith and the truth you will be deceived. I have easily 1,000 or pages of research that I have studied and printed off the internet and books galore. That is why I understand today that the Bible must be known through and through. Do you know the Bible through and through? I surely don’t.
If I had picked up another book by the same author or decided to read more books of this nature, who knows how deeply I would have been deceived.
I can now look at the theories and experiences proposed in Eadies book and recognize what I could not before.
What about you? Would you recognize pantheism in a book that is using biblical names and phrases? Would you notice the implication of divinity of one’s self if it was entwined with a passage about the biblical regeneration of a saved life. If someone recommended that you pray till you reach a “quiet inner center”, would you recognize that as an emergent church phrase?
The truth is found by reading the Word of God. We are to pray for wisdom and discernment as these gifts from God are very necessary.
John 8:31-32 “If you hold to my teaching (word), you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free”.
Also..read this article
I have two books by Ray Yungen, “A Time Of Departing” and “For Many Shall Come In My Name”. Both of these books are packed with information regarding the universal spirituality which is “preparing the world for the end of the age”.
What caught my interest in this article is the mention of Marcus Borg. I have studied him previously because of his involvement in a seminary board which demotes Jesus to a historical spiritual man.
In September this year, a local Episcopal church about 2 miles from my home, advertised in our local newspaper, a study group based on the book “The Meaning of Jesus” by Marcus Borg. “It explains ways to relate to Jesus in a new way.” This alone made me shudder. Also they promoted “prayer and meditation in the Celtic tradition”.
I read about apostate churches all over the country but when it happens so close to home, I weep inside because of the reality of it all.
kim
Filling the Vacuum with Mysticism
Source: Ray Yungen
by Ray Yungen
Why are the mainstream denominations so open to meditative and holistic practices? David R. Griffen, professor of theology at a United Methodist college in Clairmont, California, states:
A spiritual vacuum exists in organized religion that might he filled by theologies that draw–for better or worse–from what is called parapsychology, paranormal studies, psychic phenomena and, somewhat pejoratively, the “New Age” movement.1
New Agers have become very much aware of this “spiritual vacuum” and have directed their efforts toward filling it. Metaphysical leader James Fadiman makes the following observation:
The traditional religious world is just beginning to make changes, but it’s a slow process–denomination by denomination. When religious institutions begin to lose members year after year, they eventually become aware that they’re not meeting people’s needs. Before long they’re scurrying around looking for innovative programs and improvements.2
Even atheists have observed this trend. Science-fiction writer Richard E. Geis comments in his personal journal that:
The mainstream Christians are lip-service religions in the main, convenience religions, social religions, and they are the ones most subject to erosion and defections and infiltration and subversion. A large and successful effort seems to have been made by the occultists’ New Age planners to dilute and alter the message of most of the mainstream Christian religions.3
This is made evident by a quote which appeared in a newspaper interview with the owner of a New Age bookstore. She reveals:
A lot of people come in who are very Christian. They are looking, by whatever means, to move closer to God on an individual basis.4
This shows that a great number of people who consider themselves to be Christians have a rather dull and dreary attitude toward their faith. They are looking for something to fill the void. One of the foremost individuals who has attempted to fill this void with the New Age is Marcus Borg, professor and author of many widely read books. In one of them, The God We Never Knew, he lays out very concisely how he went from being a traditional Christian to a “mature” Christian. He relates:
I learned from my professors and the readings they assigned that Jesus almost certainly was not born of a virgin, did not think of himself as the Son of God, and did not see his purpose as dying for the sins of the world…. By the time I was thirty, like Humpty Dumpty, my childhood faith had fallen into pieces. My life since has led to a quite different understanding of what the Christian tradition says about God.5
Like multitudes of liberal Christians who believe as he does, Borg turned to mysticism to fill the spiritual vacuum that his way of thinking inevitably leads to. Borg reveals:
I learned about the use of mantras as a means of giving the mind something to focus and refocus on as it sinks into silence.6
This is a recurring theme in all his books, including his very influential book, The Heart of Christianity. Even though Marcus Borg would certainly not call himself a New Ager, his practices and views on God would be in line with traditional New Age thought (i.e., God is in everything and each person is a receptacle of the Divine, which is accessed through meditation).
Borg is a key example of what I am trying to convey. He is not some Hindu guru or counter-culture type personality. He represents the mainstream for millions of people in liberal churches. But his spiritual platform is pure New Age as he makes clear when he expounds:
The sacred is not “somewhere else” spatially distant from us. Rather, we live within God … God has always been in relationship to us, journeying with us, and yearning to be known by us. Yet we commonly do not know this or experience this…. We commonly do not perceive the world of Spirit.7
This perception is, of course, as I have shown [in Yungen’s book], the outcome of mantra-induced silence.
The following is another barometer of Christian tolerance to New Age ideas. The late psychologist M. Scott Peck wrote a phenomenal best seller on psychology and spiritual growth titled The Road Less Traveled. The book contains insights and suggestions for dealing with life’s problems, which is why it has generated the interest it has. But the book also incorporates the central theme of the Ancient Wisdom:
God wants us to become himself (or Herself or Itself). We are growing toward godhood. God is the goal of evolution. It is God who is the source of the evolutionary force and God who is the destination. This is what we mean when we say that He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end….
It is one thing to believe in a nice old God who will take good care of us from a lofty position of power which we ourselves could never begin to attain. It is quite another to believe in a God who has it in mind for us precisely that we should attain His position, His power, His wisdom, His identity.8
Madame Blavatsky and Alice Bailey [New Age occultists] could not have said it any better. Peck revealed where he was coming from when he said, “But (The Road) is a sound New Age book, not a flaky one.”9 This book, which was on the New York Times best seller list for over 400 weeks, has been incredibly popular in Christian circles for years. Peck himself said the book sells best in the Bible Belt.
What is happening to mainstream Christianity is the same thing that is happening to business, health, education, counseling, and other areas of society. Christendom is being cultivated for a role in the New Age….
This ultimately points to a global religion based on meditation and mystical experience. New Age writer David Spangler explains it the following way:
There will be several religious and spiritual disciplines as there are today, each serving different sensibilities and affinities, each enriched by and enriching the particular cultural soil in which it is rooted. However, there will also be a planetary spirituality that will celebrate the sacredness of the whole humanity in appropriate festivals, rituals, and sacraments. There will be a more widespread understanding and experience of the holistic nature of reality, resulting in a shared outlook that today would be called mystical. Mysticism has always overflowed the bounds of particular religious traditions, and in the new world this would be even more true.10
The rise of centering prayer is causing many churches to become agents of transformation. Those who practice it tend to embrace [a] one-world-religion idea. One of the main proponents of centering prayer had this revelation:
It is my sense, from having meditated with persons from many different traditions, that in the silence we experience a deep unity. When we go beyond the portals of the rational mind into the experience, there is only one God to be experienced…. I think it has been the common experience of all persons of good will that when we sit together Centering we experience a solidarity that seems to cut through all our philosophical and theological differences.11
In this context, we may compare all the world’s religions to a dairy herd. Each cow may look different on the outside, but the milk would all be the same. The different religious groups would maintain their own separate identities, but a universal spiritual practice would bind them together–not so much a one-world church as a one-world spirituality.
Episcopal priest and New Age leader Matthew Fox explains what he calls “deep ecumenism”:
Without mysticism there will be no “deep ecumenism,” no unleashing of the power of wisdom from all the world’s religious traditions. Without this I am convinced there will never be global peace or justice since the human race needs spiritual depths and disciplines, celebrations and rituals, to awaken its better selves. The promise of ecumenism, the coming together of religions, has been thwarted because world religions have not been relating at the level of mysticism.12
Fox believes that all world religions will eventually be bound together by the “Cosmic Christ”13 principle, which is another term for the higher self.
As incredible as this may sound, it appears to be happening now. The New Age is embedded in American religious culture far deeper and broader than many people imagine. If your concept of the New Age is simply astrology, tarot cards, or reincarnation, then you could easily miss the real New Age as it pulses through the religious current. If mystical prayer continues its advance, then we could one day see, perhaps sooner than we expect, many Christian churches becoming conduits of New Age thought to their membership.
I first read this sermon Saturday December 8th and I just watched it on youtube Sunday. If you have ever wondered why preachers are predicting judgment on America, because you believe we are a Christian country, watch or listen to this. This man is preaching the “hard to take truth”…..get a cup of coffee, sit and listen… it is 58 minutes. This 58 minutes may change your life forever.
http://www.heartcrymissionary.com/ | www.sermonaudio.com/gcc
SHOCKING YOUTH MESSAGE STUNS HEARERS ––SO SHOCKING AND BIBLICAL THE PREACHER WAS NEVER INVITED BACK
Matthew 7:13-27
Paul Washer
It’s a tremendous privilege for me to be here this afternoon with you. Before we begin with any further speaking, I would also like to go to the Lord in prayer. I would ask you to pray. There is so much going on here this afternoon, so much that you don’t understand, but I’ll tell you where I’m coming from. I’ll preach as a dying man to dying men and women and youth. I’ll preach as though I will never preach again, and I will tell you things that you will misunderstand. I will tell you things that make you so angry with me, and I’ll tell you things that you will deny. And I will tell you things and you will say I have no right to tell you what I’m telling you. But before you come to any conclusion about what is being said here this afternoon, you ask yourself one question.
You see, preaching is a very dangerous thing. It’s dangerous for me because the Bible says that false teachers will undergo greater condemnation. If what I tell you today is not true, I’m in a great deal of trouble and have every right to do this with fear and trembling, because I will stand condemned before God. But if what I tell you today is true, then you’re the one with cause for fear and trembling, because if I correctly interpret this passage of Scripture that I’m going to give you, it is as though God was speaking through a man. Your problem will not be with me; it will be with God and His Word. So, the only question that has to be decided here this afternoon is––Is this man before us a false prophet? Or is he telling us the truth? And if he is telling us the truth, then nothing else matters except conforming our lives to that truth.
Let’s go to the Lord in prayer.
Father . . .Father, I am so small and so pitiful, Father, in so many ways. You know, Lord, You
know, though dear God, should false fire be the only thing ever placed on Your altar, or could
fire come down from Heaven amidst all the noise and the clamor and the activities . . . could fire
come down from Heaven and these dead bones live, You know me. In Your sovereignty, I pray
and I beg before the throne of God that You would be gracious to us, that You would open up
hearts and minds. Lord, we can’t wait for them to open theirs; they never will. Open up their
hearts and minds and cause them to see biblical truth. Breathe on them. Grant them repentance.
Grant them faith. Bring them into Your Kingdom, Lord, for Your own glory, for the sake of
Your own great name, do this thing, Lord. As the brother said, let it be so, Lord, so that no man
will take credit for it, so that no man will lay his hand to the ark of God and, if he did, that You
would strike him down dead, Lord. Oh, God, move among us, please, because we have no other
hope. We have no other hope. These children have no other hope except that You move.
Amen.
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I’ll be teaching from Matthew chapter 7. If you have your Bibles, follow with me. In Matthew
chapter 7, verse 13, Jesus said:
Enter through the narrow gate for the gate is wide and the way is broad
that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the
gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who
find it.
Beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but
inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes
are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? So every
good tree bears good fruit, but every bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree
cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree
that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then,
you will know them by their fruits.
Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of
heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter.
Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your
name and in your name cast out demons and in your name perform many
miracles. Then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you
who practice lawlessness. Therefore, everyone who hears these words of
mine and acts upon them may be compared to a wise man who builds his
house on the rock. And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew
and slammed against that house and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded
upon the rock.
Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be
like a foolish man who builds his house on the sand. The rain fell and the
floods came and winds blew and slammed against the house and it fell, and
great was its fall.
I stand here today . . . I’m not troubled in my heart about your self-esteem. I’m not troubled in
my heart about whether or not you feel good about yourself, whether or not life is turning out
like you want it to turn out, or whether or not your checkbook is balanced. There’s only one
thing that gave me a sleepless night. There’s only one thing that troubled me all throughout the
morning, and this is this. Within a hundred years, a great majority of people in this building will
possibly be in hell. And many who even profess Jesus Christ as Lord will spend an eternity in
hell.
You say, Pastor, how can you say such a thing? I can say such a thing because I don’t do my
Christian work in America. I spend most of my time preaching in South America, in Africa, and
Eastern Europe. And I want you to know that, when you take a look at American Christianity, it
is based more upon a godless culture than it is upon the Word of God. And so many people are
deceived, and so many youth are deceived, and so many adults are deceived into believing that,
because they prayed a prayer one time in their life, they’re going to Heaven. And then, when
they look around at others who profess to know Christ and see those people also just as worldly
as the world, and they compare themselves by themselves, nothing troubles their heart. They
think, well, I’m the same as most in my youth group. I watch things I shouldn’t watch on
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television and laugh about the very things that God hates. I wear clothing that is sensual. I talk
like the world. I walk like the world. I love the music of the world. I love so much that’s in the
world, but bless God, I am a Christian. Why am I a Christian? I don’t look any different than
most of the other people in my church. Why am I a Christian? Because there was a time in my
life when I prayed and asked Jesus Christ to come into my heart.
I want you to know that the greatest heresy in the American evangelical and protestant church is
that, if you pray and ask Jesus Christ to come into your heart, He will definitely come in. You
will not find that in any place in Scripture. You will not find that anywhere in Baptist history
until about 50 years ago. What you need to know is that salvation is by faith and faith alone in
Jesus Christ. And faith alone in Jesus Christ is preceded and followed by repentance . . . a
turning away from sin, a hatred for the things that God hates and a love for the things that God
loves, a growing in holiness and a desire not to be like Britney Spears, not to be like the world,
and not to be like the great majority of American Christians, but to be like Jesus Christ! [Theaudience then erupts in applause].
I don’t know why you’re clapping. I’m talking about you. I didn’t come here to get amens. I
didn’t come here to be applauded. I’m talking about you.
People so many times come up to me and say, “Oh, I’d love to follow you into Romania”; “I’d
love to follow you into the Ukraine”; “I’d love to preach where you preached and planted
churches in Peru in the jungle.”
And I tell them, “No, you wouldn’t.”
They say, “Yes, I would.”
I say, “No, you wouldn’t.”
“Why?”
“Because you’d be excommunicated from the church down there.”
What we need to see . . . I’m not trying to be hard for the sake of being hard. Do you realize how
much love it takes to stand before 5,000 people and tell them that American Christianity is
almost totally wrong? Do you know what it’s going to cost me to never be asked back again to
something like this? To be unpopular? Do you know why you do it? You don’t do it because
you get paid well. You don’t do it because men love you. You do it because you love men and
because, more than that, you want to honor God.
I want to tell you something. We’re going to go into Scripture, and I want you to look at it as it
really is. It’s not comparing yourself with others who call themselves Christians. Compare
yourself to the Scripture. When someone, a young person, comes to a pastor or a youth minister
and says, “I’m not sure whether or not I’m saved,” the youth minister will usually throw out a
cliché: “Well, was there ever a time in your life when you prayed and asked Jesus to come into
your heart?”
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“Well, yes.”
“Were you sincere?”
“Well, I don’t know, but I think so.”
“Well, you need to tell Satan to stop bothering you. Did you write it in the back of your book . . .
the back of your Bible like the evangelist told you when you got saved, write down the date so
that any time you doubted you could point him to the Bible?”
What superstition has overcome our denomination? Do you know what the Bible tells Christians
to do? Examine yourself. Test yourself in light of Scripture to see if you are in the faith. Test
yourself to see if you’re a Christian.
Do you realize if I dismissed us right now and told everyone to go knock on every door in this
city, do you know what we would find out? Ninety-nine percent of the people, at least, in this
city believe themselves to be believers. If you go back to your hometown and knock on every
door . . . because I went back to my hometown after I got saved and knocked on every door, and
you know what I found out? Everyone in my town is a Christian. Eighty-five percent of them
do not go to church, and those who do go to church are not concerned about holiness. They’re
not concerned about serving. They’re not concerned about being separate from the world.
They’re not concerned about the Gospel being preached among the nations. But, bless God,
they’re saved.
Why are they saved? Because some evangelist who should have spent less time preaching and
more time studying his Bible told them they were saved, and he did it so he could brag about
how many came forward in his next revival.
I love you, and there are men here who love you. And I want to go into Scripture now, now that
I’ve shocked you into light. I want you to listen to me. Listen to the Word of God and begin to
ask yourself some questions. First of all, Enter through the narrow gate for the gate is wide andthe way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. There is a
narrow gate.
And you know, historically–one of the reasons I’m a Southern Baptist is that the Southern
Baptists have always been quick–when other denominations have failed to realize this–the
Southern Baptists have always been quick to realize that there is one gate; there is one God; there
is one mediator between God and man; and His name is Jesus Christ. It’s not multiple choice.
Not every road leads to Rome. As a denomination, we have always told people what Jesus told
people: I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me.
So, I praise God for that, that the only way any human being on this earth will ever be saved is
through Jesus Christ, and that is all. Because you need to realize the Bible says, For all havesinned and come short of the glory of God, and you have no idea what that means, that we were
born radically depraved and God hating, that we would have never sought God, never come to
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God. We have rebelled against God, broken every law. It’s not just an issue that you have
sinned. The issue is you’ve never done anything but sinned. The Bible says in the prophets that
even our greatest works are like filthy rags before God. And because of that, you know what we
deserve? The wrath of God. The holy hatred of God.
You say, “Now, wait a minute. God doesn’t hate anybody. God is love.” No, my friend. You
need to understand something. Jesus Christ taught, the prophets taught, the apostles taught this
-that apart from the grace of God revealed in Jesus Christ our Lord, the only thing left for you
is the wrath, the fierce anger of God because of your rebellion and your sin.
When I speak in universities, they’re always quick to point out, “No, God cannot hate because
God is love.” And I tell you God must hate because God is love. You see, I love children;
therefore, I hate abortion. If I love that which is holy, I must hate that which is unholy. God is a
holy God. That’s something that the Americans have forgotten. Many of the things that you
love to do, God hates. Did you know that?
Pray for revival. You’re going to have a youth meeting; you want God to move, but before you
go there you watch programs on television that God absolutely despises. And then you wonder
why the Holy Spirit hasn’t fallen on a place and why you have to create false fire and false
excitement. Because God’s not in it. God is a holy God and the only way you and I could ever
be reconciled to a holy God is through the death of God’s own Son when He hung on that tree.
Now listen to me, if you’re saved here tonight, you’re not saved because the Romans and Jews
rejected Jesus. You’re not saved because they put a crown of thorns on His head. You’re not
saved because they ran a spear through His side, and you’re not saved even because they nailed
Him to a cross. Do you know why you’re saved if you are saved? Because when Jesus Christ
was hanging on that cross, He bore your sin. The sin of God’s people and all the fierce wrath of
God that should fall upon you fell upon His only begotten Son. Someone had to pay that price.
Someone had to die. It was God the Father who crushed His only begotten Son. According to
Isaiah 53, it says, It pleased Yahweh to crush Him.
People say the cross is a sign of how much man is worth. That’s not true. The cross is a sign of
how depraved we really are, that it took the death of God’s own Son. The only thing that could
save a people like us was the death of God’s own Son under the wrath of His own Father paying
the price, rising again from the dead. Powerful to say, this is the Gospel of Jesus.
Now what are you called upon to do? You say you go through the narrow gate. How do you do
that? Jesus said, The time is fulfilled. The Kingdom of God is at hand. What must you do? In
Mark, He tells us . . . repent and believe the Gospel.
You say, “Brother Paul, I got saved by praying and asking Jesus Christ into my heart.” And I’m
sure you did, but you weren’t saved by a magic formula or some words you repeated after
someone else. You were saved because you repented of your sins and you believed, and not only
did you do that in the past, you continued to do it even until now, because when Jesus . . . a
proper translation of that verse He gave is this: The Kingdom of God is come. The time isfulfilled. Now, spend the rest of your lives repenting of your sins and believing in Me.
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Conversion is not like a flu shot. “Oh, I did that. I repented. I believed.” The question is my
friend–are you continuing to repent of sin? Are you continuing to believe? Because He who
began a good work in you will finish it. He will finish it.
Now, we as Southern Baptists preach that you’re supposed to go through that one and only gate
which is Jesus Christ. But we as Southern Baptists have forgotten something. And I want youth
ministers and pastors and everyone to listen to me, parents, we have forgotten a very important
teaching in the Gospel. It says that, not only the gate is narrow, it says the path is narrow. What
we basically do is lead someone to Christ, lead someone in a prayer and then they spend the rest
of their life living just like the world, and if you deny me on this, I can bring the statistics to
prove you wrong. Gallup poll, Barnard polls, every kind of poll you can possibly look at, when
it questions the morality of the church in America against the morality of those who claim to be
lost in America, the polls find no difference. Now that is statistics. It has nothing to do with
religious interpretation. Those are statistics.
Book after book is being churned out by theologian and philosopher and sociologist alike. What
has happened to the church? We find out that abortion in the church is just as prevalent as
outside in the world. We find that divorce is just as prevalent. We find that immorality . . . you
know as well as I do, there are youth here right now who are practicing immorality and yet
worshiping God in the same breath. You know there are youth here that are doing drugs and yet
coming to youth group. You know, watching and doing things that are not appropriate for a
Christian, and yet they’re coming to the youth group, believing themselves satisfied, believing
themselves saved, and no one is saying anything except this: They’re carnal Christians. They’re
really Christians; they’re just carnal. That was a doctrine that started in a Baptist seminary, that
is not a Southern Baptist seminary, several decades ago. It is not biblical and it is not historical.
My dear friend, there is no such thing as a carnal Christian.
You say, “Now, wait a minute, Brother Paul. First Corinthians chapter 3, Are ye not carnal.
Paul said that.”
No, that’s what Paul said. You need to read the whole book to find out what he meant. You see,
one of our problems, youth, listen to me . . . most of our Christianity is based on clichés that we
read on the back of Christian tee shirts. Most of our Christianity comes from songwriters and not
the Bible. Most of what we believe is dictated to us through our culture and not by the Bible.
The Bible never teaches that a person can be a genuine Christian and live in continuous carnality
and wickedness and sin all the days of their life. But the Bible teaches that the genuine Christian
has been given a new nature. The genuine Christian has a Father who loves them and disciplines
them and watches over them and cares for them.
My heart is breaking because you know as well as I do, young people, let’s not be hypocrites
about it. Let’s not hide it. There are so many. You know them. You might be one of them, or
you at least know that they’re in your youth group. They come to youth group. They do all this
stuff, but in their heart, they’re as wicked as wicked can be. There is no difference. There is no
light. Everything that the world does, they do, and it’s appropriate; it’s okay. My friend, that’s
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not Christianity. They’re not in danger of losing their reward. They’re in danger of hell. They
know not God.
What don’t we teach? When was the last time you heard someone say there’s not only a narrow
gate into Heaven but a narrow way? Jesus indicates that one of the principal signs of being a
genuine Christian is that you walk in the narrow way. Do you know what the sign for being a
genuine Christian in America is? You prayed a prayer one time. Isn’t that amazing? What are
you asked if you doubt your salvation? Did you pray a prayer one time? What does Scripture
teach? Examine yourselves. Test yourselves in the light of Scripture to see if you’re in the path,
because a Christian will be different.
Now, am I saying that a Christian is without sin? No, because, in First John, we learn that
Christians do sin, and if any man does not acknowledge his sin, he knows not God. He’s not
walking in the light? So what is the difference? What am I really getting at? What I am getting
at is this. If you are genuinely a born-again Christian, a child of God, you will walk in the way
of righteousness as a style of life. And if you step off that path of righteousness, the Father will
come for you. He will discipline you. He will put you back on that path. But if you profess to
have gone through the narrow gate, but yet you live in the broad way, just like all the other
people in your high school, just like all the other people who are carnal and wicked, the Bible
wants you to know that you should be terribly, terribly afraid because you know not God.
I fear men who have spent most of their life telling other men that they are saved. I fear you if
you’ve done that. You don’t tell men they are saved; you tell men how to be saved. God tells
them they are saved. What we have forgotten to believe is that salvation is a supernatural work
of God, and those who have genuinely been converted, regenerated by the power of the Holy
Spirit is going to be a new creature. The Bible says, If any man be in Christ, he is a newcreature. So we find out here in Scripture that there is a narrow gate and a narrow way.
We go into verse 15. Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardlyare ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. One of the things you need to realize is
this–something a wise man told me a long time ago. He said, “Paul, your best friend is the one
who tells you the most truth.” In America, we have become so thin-skinned that no one can
rebuke us. No one can tell us we are wrong. And ministers and leaders alike have bought into
this lie. We do not want to offend. We want to be seeker friendly. What you need to realize is
there is only one seeker and His name is God, and if you want to be friendly to someone in your
church, you need to be friendly to God. And you need to be more concerned for the glory of
God than you are for the attitudes of men. But another thing you need to realize is the person
who loves you the most will tell you the most truth.
One of the greatest distinguishing marks of a false prophet is that he will always tell you what
you want to hear. He will never rain on your parade. He will get you clapping. He will get you
jumping. He will make you dizzy. He will keep you entertained, and he will present a
Christianity to you that will make your church look like a Six Flags over Jesus and keep you so
entertained you are never addressed with great issues such as these. Is God working in my life?
Am I growing in holiness? Have I truly been born again?
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Listen to me. If everyone in this town believes themselves saved, and we know that’s not true by
Scripture because the Bible says that few will enter in, how do you know that you’re saved?
How do you truly know that you are saved? Because someone told you? Because you prayed a
prayer? Because you believed? Well, let me ask you a question. How do you know you
believed? Because everybody says they believe. How do you know you’re not like them? Do
you know how the Bible teaches you that you know you are saved? Do you know how Baptist
theology, up until about 50 years ago, would have told you how you know you have been saved?
You know you have been saved because your life is in the process of being changed, and your
style of life is one of walking in the paths of God’s truth.
And when you step off those paths in disobedience, as we all do, God comes for you and puts
you back on the path. One of the greatest evidences that you have truly been born again is that
God will not let you talk as your flesh might want to talk. God will not let you dress as the
sensual world and the sensual church allows you to dress. God will not allow you to act like the
world, smell like the world, speak like the world, listen to the things that the world listens to.
God will make a difference in your life.
He says here, as we go on, verse 16: You will know them by their fruits. How will you know a
false prophet? In the wider application here and all of Scripture, how will you know if someone
is a genuine Christian? By their fruit. By their fruit, my dear friend. Look at your life. Look at
the way you walk. Look at the way you talk. Look at the passions of your heart. Is Jesus in
there somewhere? Or is He just some accessory that you add on to your life? Is He just
something that you do on Wednesday or Sunday? Is He something that you give a mental assent
to? Is He an accessory or is He the very center of your life? And what is the fruit that you’re
bearing? Do you look like the world? Act like the world? Do you have and experience the
same joys that the world experiences? Can you love sin and relish it? Can you love rebellion
and relish it? Then you know not God. You will know them by their fruit. God has the power
to change them.
Let’s imagine for a moment Jesus teaching this passage, and you’re sitting out there listening.
And He looks at you. He says, “Thistles, thistles. Do you find thistles on fig trees?”
And you respond, “Of course not, Jesus. I mean, you’re not an agriculturalist; you’re not a
farmer. I mean, you’re a carpenter. But everybody knows, Jesus, you don’t find thorns on fig
trees.”
“Well, then, let me ask you another question. Do you find figs–good fruit–on thorn trees?”
“Why, no, Jesus. That’s absolutely ludicrous. I mean, you’re never gonna find thorns on a fig
tree, and you’re not gonna find figs on a thorn tree, Jesus. To say that could be
possible–anyone who tells you that, Jesus, you can mark it down . . . they’re either crazy or
they’re a liar.”
And then Jesus responds to you. “Well then, those who call themselves my disciples and bear
bad fruit, would not it be the same to say that they were either lying or out of their mind to make
such a statement?”
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Let me take it a little further. Let’s imagine that I show up late and I run up here on the platform,
and all the leaders are angry with me and say, “Brother Paul, don’t you appreciate the fact you’re
given an opportunity to speak here and you come late?”
And I’d say, “Brothers, you have to forgive me.”
“Well, why?”
“Well, I was out here on the highway, and I was driving and I had a flat tire and I got out to
change the tire, and when I was changing the tire, the lug nut fell off, and I wasn’t paying
attention that I was on the highway and I ran out and I grabbed the lug nut, and as soon as I
picked it up in the middle of the highway, I stood up and there was a 30-ton logging truck going
120 miles an hour about ten yards in front of me, and it ran me over and that’s why I’m late.”
Now, there would only be two . . . I know no one studies logic anymore, but there would only be
two logical conclusions. One, I’m a liar or, two, I’m a madman. You would say, “Brother Paul,
it’s absolutely absurd. It is impossible, Brother Paul, to have an encounter with something as
large as a logging truck and not be changed.”
And then my question would be to you–What is larger? A logging truck or God? How is it that
so many people today profess to have had an encounter with Jesus Christ, and, yet, they are not
permanently changed? Let me give you a few things to think about. You know I’m telling you
the truth. How many times do you go and rededicate your life over and over and over again?
How many times do youth groups go to things like this and get fired up and go back to the
church, and it lasts about a week and a half? And yet, “Oh, it was a great move of God.” No, it
wasn’t. If it doesn’t last, it wasn’t a great move of God. It was emotion. It was so many things,
but it wasn’t a great move of God. Has God worked in your life? Is God working in your life?
You will know them by their fruit. You will know them by their fruit.
Now, we go on, verse 19: Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown intothe fire so you will know them by their fruit. Look at this. You need to understand something
about Hebrew literature. When you and I want to emphasize something, do you know what we
do? We raise our voice. If we’re writing, we put it in bold letters, or we capitalize it. But to a
Jew, it’s different. When he wants to emphasize something, he repeats it and he repeats it.
That’s why you find Hebrew parallelisms in the Book of Proverbs. The wicked shall not live inthe land. The wicked shall be destroyed. He’s saying the same thing, just in a different way to
give greater emphasis. That’s what Jesus is doing over and over again here. You will know themby their fruit. You will know them by their fruit. You will know them by the path that they walk
in. You will know them by their fruit. You will know them by their fruit. And He says, Anyonewho does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. What is He talking about?
My dear friend, He is talking about the judgment of Almighty God that will one day fall upon the
world, that will one day fall possibly upon you.
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Oh dear friend, I cannot look into your heart. I am so easily deceived by my own heart, but there
is One who is not deceived. There is One who is not deceived, and He is not deceived by a
contemporary Christian culture. He knows. You will know them by their fruit.
And He goes on and He says this, verse 21: Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enterthe kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my father who is in heaven will enter. Do
you know what your profession of faith in Jesus Christ is worth? Absolutely nothing. Yes. Did
you read that passage? Study it. Not everyone who comes to me and says, Lord, Lord . . . noteveryone who professes, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven. There are many
people who are going to profess, “Lord, Lord,” but they are not going to enter into the kingdom
of heaven. My dear precious child, are you one of them? “Lord, Lord.”
Now, again, let’s go back to Hebrew literature. He said, Lord, Lord. He didn’t say, Lord. What
does that mean? This fellow who is making this profession, he is not someone who just all of a
sudden decided, “It’s judgment and I better profess Him to be Lord.” This is a person who
emphatically declares to other people that Jesus Christ is Lord. He walks around saying, “Lord.”
He dances up in front while the musicians are playing, saying, “Lord.” He sings the songs,
“Lord.” But Jesus said to him, Depart from me. I never knew you.
Do you know, Billy Graham is one of the kindest, lovingest men; yet, Billy Graham has said he
believed that a great majority of people who attend Bible-believing churches are lost. He said
that he would be happy if even five percent of all the people who made professions of faith in his
campaigns are even saved.
When I’m in Nigeria . . . I was there last year visiting a mother whose son was in our church and
was martyred by the Muslims. In Northern Nigeria, when someone professes faith in Jesus
Christ, you pretty much know they can die because of that profession. But in America, oh,
consider the cost. Think. Examine your life in light of Scripture. Do you know the Lord? Do
you know the Lord? Because not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the
kingdom of Heaven, but what does it say here? Look what it says. Not everyone who says tome, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is
in heaven.
What is the sign that someone has become a genuine Christian? I wish that we would start
teaching this again. What happened to our theology? What happened to our doctrine? What
happened to our teaching? It went right out the window. No one wants to study doctrine
anymore. They just want to listen to songs and read the back of Christian tee shirts. What
happened to truth? Truth tells you this. The evidence–the way that you can have assurance that
you are genuinely a born-again Christian–is that you do, as a style of life, the will of the Father.
You say, “Oh, you’re talking about works.” No, I’m not. I’m talking about evidence of faith,
and it goes like this. Your profession of faith is no proof that you’re born again because
everybody in this whole country professes faith in Jesus Christ. Barnard tells us that 65 to 70
percent of all Americans are saved, born-again Christians. The most Godless country on the face
of the earth. Kill 4,000 babies a day but, bless God, 70 percent of us are born again. How do
you know that the faith you have is not false? A style of life that is concerned about doing the
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will of the Father, that practices the will of the Father, and when you disobey the will of the
Father, the Holy Spirit comes and reprimands you either personally through the written Word of
God or through a brother or sister in Christ, and God puts you back on the path again. If you’re a
genuine Christian, you cannot escape Him.
Let me give you an example. If I was your pastor and you were, let’s say, 14 years old and I
came back from preaching at one o’clock in the morning and I saw you standing out there in a
park or on a corner with a bunch of hoodlums, doing things you shouldn’t be doing and you’re a
member of our church, I would tell you, “Get in the car.” I would take you home to your father.
I wouldn’t be mad at you. I’d be mad at your father. I would tell him, “Sir, you are a derelict
father that you would allow your child to be out in such circumstances.”
I want you to know something. God is not a derelict father. If you can play around in sin, if you
can love the world and love the things of the world, if you can always be involved in the world
and doing things of the world, if your heroes are worldly people, if you want to look like them
and act like them, if you practice the same things they practice, oh my dear friend, listen to my
voice. There’s a good chance you know not God, and you do not belong to him.
Now, we bring this to a close, verse 22: Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we notprophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons, and in your name perform many
miracles. Then I will declare to them, I never knew you.
You say the most important thing on the face of the earth is to know Jesus Christ. That is not
true. The most important thing on the face of the earth is that Jesus Christ knows you. I’m not
going to get into the White House tomorrow because I walk up to the gate and tell everybody I
know George Bush, but they will let me in if George Bush comes out and says, “I know Paul
Washer.”
You can profess to know Jesus, but my question for you . . . do you know Jesus? Does Jesus
know you? And look how he describes the lost man here. He said, Depart from me you whopractice lawlessness. In Greek, anomia–a negative particle, a, “not”; word nomos, “law”–“no
law.” And this is what it means. Let me give you an accurate translation of this. Depart fromme–Listen to me, if I could come out there and hug you while I was telling you this, I would.
Listen to me. He says, Depart from me those of you who claim to be my disciples who confessedme as Lord and, yet, you live as though I never gave you a law to obey.
I just described a great majority of North American Christianity. If anyone starts talking about
law, if anyone starts talking about Biblical principles on what we’re supposed to do and not
supposed to do, how we’re to live and not supposed to live, everyone starts screaming,
“Legalist.” But Jesus said, Depart from me those of you who live–you called me Lord, but youlived as though I had never given a law.
In American Christianity today, pass through the gate. Praise God. Live like the rest of the
world and it’s okay. You’re just carnal. Maybe one day you’ll come back. Do you know what
happens because of our bad evangelism? We have gazillions of children saved in vacation Bible
school, and when they hit 15 years old, they enter into the world and live like demons, a great
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majority of them. And then when they’re around 30, they come back and rededicate their life.
Maybe they just got saved. Because, folks, it’s more than just telling someone you’re saved
because you acknowledged that Jesus is Lord. Satan acknowledges that Jesus is Lord. Is your
life in a process of change?
And then He drops down and He talks about two people–two foundations. Do you know what
this passage in contemporary . . . See it’s important to study theology and it’s important to study
history. The contemporary interpretation of this passage about the rock and the sand is basically
like this. If you’re a Christian, you need to build your life upon the rock because, if you build
your life upon the sand, you’ll be an unhappy Christian and your life won’t go right. That is not
what Jesus is teaching and history backs me up on it. It was hardly ever interpreted that way.
Do you know what the interpretation is? It goes like this.
There are two ways. There’s a narrow way and a broad way. Which one are you on? There are
two types of trees. There is a good tree that bears good fruit, and it’s going to Heaven. There’s a
bad tree and you know it’s bad because it bears bad fruit, and it’s going to hell. It’s going to be
cut down and thrown into the fire. There are those who profess Jesus is Lord and they do the
will of the Father who is in heaven, and there are those who profess Jesus Christ is Lord and they
do not do the will of the Father who is in heaven, and they go to hell–not because of a lack of
works, but because of a lack of faith demonstrated by the fact that they had no works.
And then he goes on. He says, not two Christians building their house on two different
foundations. No. This is a saved man and a lost man. The lost man hears the Word of God
preached but he lays no foundation. You cannot see in any way in his life how the Word of God
is forming and building and sustaining his life. His life is not–how many people in the
Southern Baptist Convention, regardless of all our numbers, regardless of everything we say, if
we were to simply take this passage and compare the people to this passage and say–Are you
building your marriage on the Word of God? Are you raising your children on the Word of
God? Are you doing your finances on the Word of God? Are you living, separating yourself
from the things of this world based upon the Word of God? How many would be able to answer
positively?
No, none of that. “I profess Jesus. He’s my Savior. My Sunday school teacher told me so.” Oh.
I know, like Leonard Ravenhill, an acquaintance of mine before he passed on, used to say, “I
preach in a lot of Baptist churches once.” I preach in a lot of places like this once. I could have
got up here today with a vocabulary that would have astounded you and preached you things that
would have lifted you up and floated you around this room. I could have told you stories that
would have made you laugh and stories about dogs and grandmas that would have made you cry,
but I love you too much for that. I know . . . I know, because the Word of God is true, that there
are people who believe themselves to be saved and they are no more saved. They’re not.
I know that there are some of you who look around and you think, “Well, I’m saved. I mean,
look, I look like everybody else in my youth group.” What makes you think your youth group is
saved? “Well, I’m like my parents”; or, “I’m like the adults in my church or the deacon or the
pastor.” What does that matter? You won’t be judged by them on the day of His coming. My
question for you, beloved, my question for you, little child–I mean, you could be my children,
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and I pray someday when my little boy grows that there will be a preacher who will stand before
him and say, “Enough of this!”
Let’s get down. What does the Word of God say? How does your life stand in front of that
blazing fire which is the holiness of God on that final day? Beloved, precious little girl, beloved,
precious young man, on that final day will your confession hold true? Are you saved? And I’m
not talking about, “Well, I think I’m saved.” You know, there’s a way that seems right unto aman, but it leads unto death.
“Well, I feel in my heart of my hearts that I’m saved.” Well, let me ask you a question. Did you
ever read that the heart is deceitfully wicked; who can know it? Shouldn’t you go to the
testimony of Scripture?
“Well, I know I’m saved because my mom, my dad, my pastor, everybody else told me I was
saved.” Well, I’m telling you this. What does the Word of God tell you?
We talk so much about being radical Christians. Radical Christians are not people who jump at
concerts. Radical Christians are not people who wear Christian tee shirts. Radical Christians are
those who bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Radical Christians are those who reverence and
honor their parents even when they feel like their parents are wrong. Radical Christians are
those who do not–now listen to me. This is going to make you mad, and I’m talking to boys
and girls. Radical Christians are those who do not dress sensually in order to show off their
bodies. If your clothing is a frame for your face, God is pleased with your clothing. If your
clothing is a frame for your body, it’s sensual and God hates what you’re doing. Everybody
wants to talk about a prophet, but no one wants to listen to one.
I’m talking about Christianity. I have spent my life in jungles. I have spent my life freezing in
the Andes Mountains. I have seen people die. A little boy, Andrew Myman [phonetic], the
Muslims shot him five times through the stomach and left him on a sidewalk simply because he
cried out, “I am so afraid but I cannot deny Jesus Christ. Please don’t kill me, but I will not deny
Him.” And he died in a pool of blood. And you talk about being a radical Christian because you
wear a tee shirt, because you go to a conference. I’m talking about holiness. I’m talking about
Godliness.
I wish–you know what a move of God would be in this place? If all of you came under
conviction, if I myself came under conviction of the Holy Spirit, we fell down on our faces and
wept because we watch the things that God hates, because we wear the things that God hates,
because we act like the world, look like the world, smell like the world, because we do the very
things, and we know not that we do these things, because we do not know the Word of God.
Because, even though we claim as a denomination that the Scripture is the infallible Word of
God, basically all we get is illustrations, stories, and quaint little novels. Oh, that God will glow
on this place, that we would turn away from our sin, that we would renounce the things that are
displeasing to God, and, then, that we would run to Him and we would relish Him and we would
love Him.
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Oh, that God would raise up missionaries. I don’t wish the same things your parents want for
you. They want for you security and insurance and nice homes. They want for you cars and
respect. I want for you the same thing I want for my son, that one day he takes a banner, the
banner of Jesus Christ, and he places it on a hill where no one has ever placed a banner before,
and he cries out, “Jesus Christ is Lord,” even if it costs my son his life. Oh, when he’s 18 years
old, if he says to me the same thing I said when I was a young man, “I’m going into the
mountains. I’m going into the jungle.” And they said, “You can’t go there. You’re insane. It’s
a war. You’re gonna die.” I’m going. When that little boy puts on that backpack, I’m going to
pray over him and say, “Go! God be with you, and if you die, my son, I’ll see you over there and
I’ll honor your death.”
Oh, God, let’s pray, let’s pray.
Oh, God, I don’t care about reputation. I don’t care what men think. I want You to be honored.
I want these young people to be saved. I want those that are saved to stop looking around at a
cultural Christianity that You hate and will spew out of Your mouth, and that they will look at
the Word of God and say, “I will follow Jesus.”
Oh, God, I pray for youth ministers and pastors and I pray that You’d fill them with the spirit of
wisdom and love and boldness and discernment. And dear God, whatever the cost, I pray that
you will raise up missionaries. I can’t help but look at these kids and think of my own little boy.
Oh, God, that You would save Ian and that You would raise him up and send him into the worst
part of the battle. Oh, dear God, raise up missionaries here. Raise up missionaries. Raise up
preachers and pastors and reachers and evangelists that know the Word of God. Oh, God, work
in this place, please work in this place, dear God. Please. Please. Please. Please.
Now with every head bowed, is there anyone here tonight that would say, “Brother Paul, I have
been living a lie. I claim to be a Christian but I love the world, and I look like it and smell like it
and I hate myself for it, and, Brother Paul, I am so tired of this Christianity that I’m living. I’m
just sick of it. I’m just sick of it. I want to be saved. I want to be saved.” I just want you to
stand up. “Brother Paul, I want to be saved.” Amen. Is there anyone else? Amen. Amen.
In a moment, we’re going to have an invitation. Those of you who stood up–I’m going to come
down here and I want you to meet with me. I want to talk to you. Now, you may be seated,
thank you.
Now, I want to talk to those of you who claim to be Christians. Does your life honor Jesus
Christ? Are you looking in His Word to find out how you’re supposed to live? I pray with all
my heart, the only thing that’s going to save the church in America, there’s only two
possibilities. One is a total reformation in our preaching and our study of the Word of God, and
the other is fierce, horrifying persecution. That’s the only thing that’s going to save the church
in America. Oh, I pray, I pray that you would return to the Word. I pray–listen to me, young
person. You need to know. You need to say, “Okay, how am I supposed to live before my
parents?” Go into the Word, find out, obey it. “How am I supposed to dress?” Go into the
Word, find out, obey it. “How am I supposed to talk?” “What am I supposed to listen to?”
Bring every thought, word, and deed into subjection to Jesus Christ.
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Now, I’m not going to ask you to stand because I am so tired of people coming forward and
making those commitments, and those commitments last them two minutes. I’m not here so I
can write up in my magazine that a gazillion of you came forward. I want you to go home and I
want you to live for Jesus Christ with all your heart. But if you need counseling, you say,
“Brother Paul, I want to–I want to live for Jesus Christ. I don’t know how. I don’t know how.”
In a minute, we’re going to give an invitation, and I do want you to come forward, not to make a
commitment. You want to make a commitment, you make that commitment right where you’re
seated. If you need to tell somebody, you go tell your pastor. You go tell your youth minister,
and you know what, we’ll know if that commitment lasts. You know how? Because it will last,
we’ll know if it’s from God.
Let me tell you something. For everyone who’s here right now, I want to tell you something. If
you made a decision to follow Jesus Christ, if you made a decision to get saved in these last two
days, I want to tell you something. If it was genuine, it will last. If after a few weeks you go
right back into the world, live like the world, act like the world, I want you to know something,
you didn’t get anything here this weekend. You got emotion, that’s about it. If you really got
something from the Lord, I want you to know something, it will last. And even if you try to run
away from it, you won’t be able to do it. You won’t be able to do it. Oh, I love you so much. I
love you so much.
I would ask that we all stand. If you need counseling about a decision that you have made but
it’s not clear, I want you to come forward. And I’m going to come right down here. Those of
you who stood up–there were many of you over there who say, “I need to know Jesus Christ,” I
want to come down here right now and I want to meet with you, and I want to go back over here
with you and some other counselors and I want to talk to you. And I want to tell you something,
not a five-minute deal, not a ten-minute deal. If you need to talk all night, we will stay. That is
the attitude of every counselor in this place. We will stay all night if necessary, all night. God
love you. God love you. Let me pray for you.
Dear God, please, Lord, there has been so much movement. Last night, Lord, I don’t know how
much of it was real, and I know that I saw people last night weeping. I saw people trying to
make commitments, and I believe that there was a great deal of what happened last night because
of You. I saw this morning a young man preach, Father, give his testimony, and I saw real
working of the Holy Spirit. I don’t know how much of all the decisions were real, but there was
real things going on. I pray right now, Father, I don’t know how much will be real. Only time
and eternity will show us that. But, oh, dear God, please, please, work, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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This is a great article that I took from this site. Find it Here
The Strong Delusion of God
The Strong Delusion is coming; the strong delusion will be sent by God, and the strong delusion will be directed not only at those of the world that are lost in their sins, but specifically at all lukewarm, undecided, and corrupt Christians…
2Thesalonians 2:11: And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie
2Thesalonians 2:12: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Webster’s definition of “unrighteous”:
evil, guilty, immoral, unholy, unjust, sinful, unworthy, wicked
Author’s note: As I write this to you, I’m trying to be succinct, but my fear for you and for others, as well as for myself, is great and I may reiterate often in an attempt to wake us all from our spiritual slumber.
Romans 13:11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
My sole purpose in writing to you is to bear witness of the seriousness of this issue. We must not take our salvation for granted, but should work it out before God in fear and trembling.
Philippians 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Not all will be saved that claim to be Christians.
Consider: Are you secure in your walk with the Lord or are you basing your trust of your salvation in corrupted Biblical teaching under a false prophet? Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus, or are you dependent upon your pastor or priest to get you into heaven?
Christ has stated that many will come before His Throne of Judgment believing they were saved, even holding up that they had cast out demons and healed the sick, all in His name, yet He will deliver to them the most feared of all rebukes possible; “I NEVER knew you, depart from me”.
Matthew 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works?
Matthew 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity.
Why would God send a Strong Delusion upon the world?
Because lost (unsaved) people of the earth including those that claim to be Christians “believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” II Thessalonians 2:7-12
God will send the strong delusion on those among us that are guilty of not accepting the truth of His Holy Word found within the Old and New Testament Bible. Their guilt also lies in their accepting and following after the unrighteous teachings perpetrated by false prophets within the Christian church.
These false prophets are controlled by seducing spirits; and while working under the guise of end times preachers, pastors, teachers, elders, and church laymen they are preaching, teaching and promoting doctrines of devils.
1st Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some (Christians) shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
To clarify; the strong delusion will not be sent by God solely because of the actions of the false prophets, or due only to the blasphemous content of their false teachings, but also the strong delusion will be sent upon those that claim to be Christian and are proven apostate due to their acceptance of ungodly teaching. The Strong Delusion will be sent upon the false teachers and those that believe them.
Why will lukewarm Christians be included in the strong delusion curse from God?
Those that claim to be Christians have been given much in the teaching and knowledge of God.
Luke 12:48 For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required..
Lukewarm and undecided Christians are denying the deity of Christ by not bowing to His authority in all issues of life. They are not obeying the teachings of God in His Holy Word, but instead are following after false prophets that teach a new and corrupted gospel.
Does God’s Word speak to the issue of undecided and lukewarm Christians?
Yes, Jesus states He will be disgusted with lukewarm Christians to the degree He will be nauseated by their presence.
Revelation 3:15 I know your works, that you art neither cold nor hot…
Revelation 3:16 So then because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth.
Revelation 3:17 Because you say, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and know not that you art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.
Can Christians that profess to know the Holy God of the Bible be lost due to their wrong interpretation of scripture?
Yes. God has only one true interpretive meaning in His Holy Word. It cannot be rightfully interpreted and taught by false prophets that are under the influence of seducing spirits, nor can it be correctly espoused by Christians that have no personal walk or relationship with Jesus.
1 Timothy 1:16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
Is there punishment for Christians that do not OBEY the gospel of Jesus Christ?
2Thessalonians 1:7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 2Thessalonians 1:8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ Why will atheists, those that say they do not believe in God, be cursed?
There is no denying God’s existence, for everything seen and unseen speaks of the majesty of His existence through His Creation. Those that deny that God exists do so solely in rebellion and refusal to accept His Kingship. They choose to deny their true King rightful authority over their lives. Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse…Luke 12:9 But he that denies me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.
What is the “LIE” that God’s Strong Delusion will cause people to believe?First recognize that the “lie” is NOT a lie spoken or sent by God. Also, do not confuse the “lie” with the “strong delusion”, they are two entirely different things, however, combined they will become a curse on the lost and also on the lukewarm in the Christian churches. The false doctrine being taught within the Christian churches today is the “lie” .
2Thesalonians 2:11: And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie
The “strong delusion” is God’s curse upon both those that teach the false doctrine lie and those that believe the false doctrine lie. The Warning of Jesus Jesus has warned emphatically that God will be so displeased with people during the last days that He will cause them to believe a lie in order that they may be cursed. Consider: Is God speaking of sending a strong delusion on only those that are lost due to their having not accepted Jesus as their Messiah or is this warning for all people, including lukewarm Christians? Some of you may think the strong delusion is meant only for unbelievers and will not effect “Christians”. If that is the case, then answer this; why would God need another (additional) reason to condemn those that are already condemned due to their not accepting His only begotten Son?
“He that believes in Him (Jesus) is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:18
Are there really False Prophets teaching a ‘lie” within the end-time Christian churches?
Yes, so much so that Jesus made a point of warning the disciples (and us) regarding them. When speaking of false prophets, Jesus was not referring to the common deceptions of the world that would mislead the lost through out history. He was specifically warning His Christian disciples, and us as His Christian followers, to beware of False Prophets within the Christian church family.
Seducers versus persecutors:Jesus was warning us that seducers in our midst are of much more danger to the church (then and now) than are the open and obvious persecutors. Jesus foresaw the false teachers (seducers) that would be embedded within our Christian churches today.
Who are the seducers within the Christian church today?The seducers in the Christian church today are those that have gained good reputation, perhaps through pseudo Biblical teachings, but afterward, having betrayed the Holy Word of Jesus entrusted to them, have turned away from the Truth entirely. Under the prompting of evil spirits these seducers have now begun teaching heresy and error compounded; of which Jesus said are “doctrines of devils”. Ignoring the clear scriptural warning of being cursed for adding to or taking away from God’s Holy Word, today’s false prophets are foolishly, and to their own eternal destruction, teaching a new and different gospelStop for a moment and consider this; Do you realize that God’s Word says there WILL be Christians leaving the true teaching of God and accepting the teaching of evil spirits. If the dawning reality of that is not enough to make you fall on your knees pleading God’s mercy in fear of this becoming your own fate, now consider that God also says that “doctrines of devils” will be taught in the end time Christian churches? Is your Church allowing doctrines of devils to be taught?
Doctrine: A belief (or system of beliefs) accepted as authoritative by some
Devils: Spirits of evil and adversaries of God; tempters of mankind; masters of Hell
Who are those that are teaching the Doctrines of Devils being taught in Christian churches today?
The seducing laymen, teachers, prophets, elders, deacons, and pastors that have compromised, omitted, changed, added to, and intentionally wrongly interpreted the Word of God to accommodate the cultural standards and desires of the lost people of today are teaching False Doctrines that God calls Doctrines of Devils.Do you know what is considered to be a doctrine of a devil according to God’s Word?
Examples given of doctrines of devils being taught in today’s churches include (but certainly are not limited to) the following;
Where as God’s Word calls an evil act done by man as being sin, false prophets within today’s Christian churches call this same sin good and acceptable.. Isaiah 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness.
Where as God states that He is God and there is no other god beside Him. The false prophets today teach that we are ALL gods. Isaiah 44:6 Thus says the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God
. Where as God says that if we pray we shall receive that which is in His Will, these seducing false prophets now teach that we are capable of receiving anything we desire regardless of God’s will, merely through our OWN will power. 1John 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he hears us:
Where as God states that we are to seek first the kingdom of heaven and then all things needed for our care on earth will be given to us. The seducers among us teach that we should first seek after material gain, wealth, and prosperity, and of course give them a good share of it. 1Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Where as Christ said that no man can come to the Father, but through Him, and that God draws mankind through Jesus that we may be purified of our sins before approaching God. Today’s seducers teach that there are many ways to God.John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which has sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. Where as God demands that we honor and worship Him and Him only, the seducers in the Christian churches today demand that we honor and even worship them and our fellow man instead. Romans 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools Romans 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator
Where as God says that effeminate and homosexual men are an abomination to Him, many of today’s ministers teach that homosexuals and effeminates are NOT sinning and that God will go against His own Word and bless them anyway because He is a “God of Love’. 1Corinthians 6:9-10 Know you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortionists, shall inherit the kingdom of God.Leviticus 20:13 If a man also lie with mankind, as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
Jesus speaking of the signs and wonders that will deceive the end times Christians:
“Even him (anti-Christ), who’s coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders”
Christ Jesus warned us in Mathew 24 that the “him” that shall rise up is the anti-Christ, and will do so with direct empowerment from Satan, and will show great signs and lying wonders that will be so grand and spectacular as to fool many.
The great signs and wonders being done by the false prophets are not true miracles, but are instead, “LYING wonders empowered by Satan, and are NOT miracles empowered by God.
These false prophets take advantage of men’s lack of knowledge regarding God’s Holy Word.
Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you shall be no priest to me: seeing you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.
Surely, if men had read God’s warnings in the Bible they would recognize these false prophets spoken of in end time’s prophecies. But, sadly, yet it is their due; they are capable of being deceived by falsehood, trickery, magic, lies, their own arrogance, and other deceptions sent on the world by Satan through seducing spirits.
For us as true Christians, that is, those of us whom have asked with a broken and contrite heart for God to forgive us in the name of Jesus, we must also pray that God would protect and keep us from the great lie that Satan is now inflicting on the world. Pray that our God would not send the strong delusion upon us.
Will lukewarm Christians accept the anti-Christ as being Jesus? Yes.
Matthew 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
2Thessalonian 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.”
Because they did not receive the love of the TRUTH; the TRUTH being that Jesus is the ONLY way to God and is the true Savior, Lord, King, and Ruler over all creation here on earth, God is sending a Strong Delusion to curse them in order that those that accept the lie shall remain in their sins.
A Clear Warning
If you are lost in your sins without the freely offered salvation of Jesus at the time of the rise of anti-Christ you will remain lost. If you are a lukewarm, undecided, corrupt Christian that has not accepted Jesus Christ as your ONLY means of forgiveness before God, then you will receive the strong delusion from God Himself and be cursed.
God has given you the opportunity to repent today; if you refuse you will remain in your sins when the anti-Christ comes. If you believe you will recognize the anti-Christ and will not accept him as the false messiah, God’s Word says otherwise. God states clearly that because they would not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness, HE WILL cause them to believe the lie.
Never before in the history of the world has there been a time of prophetic fulfillment such as this. Today all of the final prophecies of Bible Scripture are coming to complete fulfillment quickly and with an exactness of accuracy that is astounding. As a Holy Spirit filled Christian with “eyes to see and ears to hear”, I am in awe at the exponential rapidity toward completion in which God is bringing about these promised end time events.
It is absolutely imperative that you accept Christ as your Savior, your Lord, your King, and your Ruler now. Do not make the mistake to think you will be “raptured” out of the world before the tribulation, or that you can wait until tribulation begins and then decide to bow your knee to Jesus as King. For those of you that are undecided (lukewarm), make up your mind quickly; repent of your sins before God almighty now, today, and do not wait for tomorrow. God will soon send a strong delusion upon the people of this world. Are you foolish enough to think that God will fail to do that which He has promised?
Prepare yourself to not be deceived; follow the teaching of God’s Holy Word written in the Old and New Testament Bibles. Read His Word for yourself and pray that He would show you His truth as He meant it to be. Turn away from the lying false prophets that are within many of the corrupt churches today. Seek God our Creator through Christ Jesus and Christ Jesus alone. Do not seek after wealth, materialism, and prosperity. Seek God in truth and spirit. Do not seek after power, self worship, and attention to yourself. Do not seek self gratification of perverse and ungodly desires by living your life vicariously through actors, musicians, the wealthy, sports icons, politicians, or your pastor. Hold no man or woman up as being worthy of your attention-turned-worship. Heed the Word of God Almighty ONLY.
Old Testament prophecy of God’s wrath on unbelievers:
Isaiah 66:4 I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spoke, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.
May God have mercy on us all.
A brother in Christ Jesus,
Barry L. Brumfield
DiscernIt 
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