Famous Comedians and Insanity

September 26, 2014 in religion | Tags: , , | 1 comment

FAMOUS COMEDIANS AND INSANITY

(Friday Church News Notes, September 26, 2014, 866-295-4143) –

The following is excerpted from “Robin Williams: The Sad Truth the Media Won’t Tell You” by Joe Schimmel, goodfight.org:

“Everybody is currently talking about Robin Williams and his tragic suicide. … Robin Williams acknowledged that he had opened himself up to transformative demonic powers that aided him on stage. …

Williams also recognized that these powers had manifested a very evil influence on stage and that there could be a hefty price to pay for their assistance. Williams told James Kaplan of US Weekly: ‘Yeah! Literally, it’s like possession–all of a sudden you’re in, and because it’s in front of a live audience, you just get this energy that just starts going…But there’s also that thing–it is possession. In the old days you’d be burned for it. … But there is something empowering about it. I mean, it is a place where you are totally–it is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, where you really can become this other force. Maybe that’s why I don’t need to play evil characters [in movies], ’cause sometimes onstage you can cross that line and come back. Clubs are a weird kind of petri dish environment. I mean, that’s where people can get as dark as they can in comedy–in the name of comedy, be talking about outrageous stuff and somehow come out the other side’ (‘Robin Williams,’ US Weekly, January, 1999, p. 53).

Williams’ statement answers the question as to why demonic powers use entertainers. Their goal is to promote evil and darkness and increase mankind’s rebellion against God. Williams went on to say on the heels of that admission: ‘The people I’ve admired–Jonathan [Winters], in his best days, was out. Gone. But the price he paid for it was deep.’ Sadly, it seems that the price Robin Williams has now paid is just as deep as that of his idol, Jonathan Winters. …

Like Robin Williams, Jonathan Winters had to contend with the tormenting demonic powers he utilized for fame and fortune. ‘These voices are always screaming to get out,’ Winters told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, further admitting ‘They follow me around pretty much all day and night.’ At the height of Winter’s success, he voluntarily committed himself to a psychiatric hospital for eight months. …

It was in Williams’ stand-up [in clubs] where he would go into his manic, stream-of-consciousness rants filled with vulgar language, perverse sexuality and the glorification of illicit drugs and drunkenness. Many people express shock after seeing Williams’ stand-up, not knowing his act was so perverse. …

The terrible irony is that many of these comics, such as Robin Williams and Jonathan Winters, who are portrayed in their public persona to be happy and filled with laughs, are in fact the most tormented and joyless souls on earth. Jesus gave the solemn warning, ‘For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?’ (Mark 8:36). … Several other famous comedians have been diagnosed with mental illness and suffered from severe depression. Just to name a few: John Cleese, Paul Merton, Jim Carrey, Stephen Fry, Ruby Wax, Dave Chappelle, Chevy Chase, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Hugh Laurie, David Walliams, and Maria Bamford. Tony Hancock, who was considered the funniest comic actor of his time, ended up killing himself while filming a television series in Australia in 1968. We cannot truly have peace until we have a relationship with the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). … Jesus–not drugs or alcohol–is the Savior of the world and the only One who can deliver us from the penalty of sin, hell, death and enslavement from satanic powers. Jesus declared: ‘The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly’ (John 10:10).”

 

September 22, 2014 in apologetics, Bible Study, religion | Tags: , , , | 1 comment

THE MYSTERY OF THE SHEMITAH: Is it real?

The Mystery of the Shemitah by Jonathan Cahn (Lake Mary, Florida: FrontLine, Charisma Media / Charisma House Book Group, 2014) 275 pp. paper 16.99

_________

By David James

The Harbinger by Jonathan Cahn became the #1 Christian book of 2012, set publishing records, reached publishing milestones and propelled the author to a very high-profile position on the national and even international stage. Because The Harbinger was riddled with biblical errors, theological flaws and historical misrepresentations, what started out as a 2-3 page book review, quickly turned into a book-length response and led to The Berean Call publishing my first book, The Harbinger: Fact or Fiction?

On September 2, Jonathan Cahn’s third book, The Mystery of the Shemitah was released to book retailers and was already ranked very high at its debut just on pre-orders alone. As can be seen from the current rankings on Amazon.com, it is clear that The Mystery of the Shemitah needs to be carefully examined to determine if the errors in The Harbinger have been corrected or perpetuated in this new volume.

Although I have already done five interviews discussing this book, the article below is the first evaluation in writing to appear on the ABI website. I trust that you will take time to carefully consider my concerns and that you will feel free to contact me with your thoughts, either positive or negative. (If you have trouble posting a comment, please send me an email to let me know.)

And finally, my purpose for evaluating and critiquing The Mystery of the Shemitah is two-fold:

First, because so many people were influenced by The Harbinger and because this new book is already a best-seller, the Body of Christ needs to see that there is another side of the story that might not be completely obvious to some. And even for those who might sense something isn’t quite right, many won’t really work through the sometimes slow and often laborious task of carefully checking to make sure everything is correct.

Second, just as one of my goals in writing The Harbinger: Fact or Fiction? was to model the process of discernment, the same is true of this article. First and foremost, discernment involves checking everything against the Word of God to make sure all of the arguments, theories and claims are biblically sound. And then, beyond the biblical side of things, discernment also frequently involves evaluating the logic of arguments, the veracity of assertions from a historical perspective, and even the proper use of statistics which can be framed such that the true picture is obscured and hidden from the reader, even if unintentionally.

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SUMMARY

The Mystery of the Shemitah, which went to its second printing the day it was released, builds on the concepts and theories Jonathan Cahn first presented in The Harbinger, particularly those in the chapter also titled “The Mystery of the Shemitah.” The author’s theory is that God has visited warnings and / or judgment against the United States according to a seven-year cycle going back many decades. Although this reviewer agrees that America is deserving of God’s judgment and a call to repentance is definitely in order, the foundational premise of this book is biblically flawed from the outset. The Shemitah (Jewish Sabbath year) was an obligation given specifically and exclusively to the nation of Israel, and there is no biblical support whatsoever for the idea that God would either require any other nation to observe the Shemitah year or that He would impose a Shemitah-type judgment according to a seven-year cycle on any nation, including Israel itself. Beyond this, the Shemitah, being a Sabbath and an integral part of the Law of Moses, was completely fulfilled in Christ and is no longer in operation (even it actually did affect other nations prior to the Cross).

Furthermore, none of the overwhelming number of assertions and fact-claims throughout the book concerning economic trends, financial statistics and historical events are documented whatsoever, raising the question of the source of the author’s information, the accuracy of that information, and why this most basic and necessary aspect of any research-based non-fiction book is completely missing. The burden of proof for such assertions and claims should never be on the reader if an author is to be taken seriously. In addition, the integrity of any publisher is rightly called into question when an author doesn’t cite his sources.

The bottom line is that, unfortunately, the significant problems that plague The Harbinger have possibly been exceeded in this book and so should give pause to anyone who takes the Word of God seriously.

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BACKGROUND

In the Law of Moses, God required that His chosen people, the Children of Israel, cease from their work on the seventh day of each week (the Sabbath). In addition to the Sabbath day, the Lord also instructed Israel to observe every seventh year as a Sabbath, as well. During the Sabbath year, the Israelites were to allow the land to rest from planting and harvesting and to allow whatever came up on its own to be picked by the poor among them. (Exodus 23:10-12; Leviticus 25:1-7) And just as God had provided a double-portion of manna on the 6th day of each week while the Israelites were in the wilderness so they would not have to work on the Sabbath, the Lord actually tripled the harvest in the sixth year to carry them through to the harvest in the first year of the new seven-year cycle.

Finish Article HERE

A calling out of all false teachers

September 18, 2014 in religion | Leave a comment

Mike Ratliff's avatarPossessing the Treasure

by Mike Ratliff

3 Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. 4 For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. (Jude 1:3-4 NASB)

Carefully read the passage above my brethren. The writer of the Epistle of Jude is the brother of James, the well-known leader of the Jerusalem church (Acts 12:17; 15:13; 21;18; Galatians 2:9) and, therefore, the half-brother of our Lord Jesus Christ. In v3 we read that Jude had intended to write a letter on salvation as the common blessing enjoyed by all true believers. This intent…

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Mark Chironna’s New Age/Quantum Mysticism at Bethel Redding Conference

September 12, 2014 in religion | 1 comment

A Review of the Wanderlust Film “The Holy Ghost”

September 9, 2014 in Christians, discernment, religion | Tags: | 1 comment

Monday, September 8, 2014

A Review of the Wanderlust Film “The Holy Ghost”

Pastor Gabriel Hughes is the senior teaching pastor at First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City, KS.

 
Acts 2 begins with the day of Pentecost. The apostles receive the Holy Spirit and are able to speak in whatever languages were necessary for communicating the gospel in Jerusalem. “Men from every nation under heaven,” as it says in the text, understood the message in their own language. Some of the Jews thought the apostles were drunk. But Peter stood before them and delivered the good news of salvation.

He shared prophesy from the Old Testament concerning Jesus Christ, the Son of God put to death by lawless men, and rose again from the grave. This was preordained by God, but that did not absolve the guilty of their sin. Peter’s hearers were “cut to the heart” and asked the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” To which Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

I wish I could say that filmmaker Darren Wilson and company had at least this much understanding of what it means to present the gospel when they made their movie, The Holy Ghost. But they do not show any hint of knowing, even at a basic level, what the gospel is or even who the Holy Spirit is. This documentary is a travesty that reduces the Spirit of God to sidewalk parlor tricks, salvation to magic words, and evangelism to guitar songs no one knows or understands.

If you don’t read anything else of the review that follows, just know that the Wanderlust produced documentary entitled The Holy Ghost is heresy. It is a false gospel (actually, it’s no gospel at all) that will lead a person to hell. It will not lead anyone to salvation in Christ. If the Holy Spirit does indeed save a person who watches this documentary, it is in spite of it, not because of it.

 
Finish HERE

Brennan Manning: False Teacher? Or Solid Christian?

August 31, 2014 in religion | Leave a comment

Former Nazarene's avatarFormer Nazarene

Who is Brennan Manning? He is an author, speaker, was ordained as a Franciscan priest, and is popular in the contemplative prayer movement.  I know friends who like some of his quotes, and certain things that he has said I find no argument with, and actually agree with.  Yet perhaps some don’t know his entire belief system, and I know there are probably some pastors and other Christians who love some of his sayings, but are not aware of everything he teaches. For those people, I hope this helps shed some light on him and help you make good decisions.  My approach to any teacher, preacher, or author is this: if he/she is scripturally sound in almost all he teaches, but he teaches clearly heretical doctrines, he should not be considered a good resource for any Christian to use, and should be called out as a false teacher.  This is…

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Battle Stations! (Philippians 1:27–30)

August 30, 2014 in religion | Leave a comment

Another great article….

Pastor Joe Quatrone, Jr.'s avatarJoe Quatrone, Jr.

warfareThe Christian life is not a playground; it is a battleground. We are children in the family, enjoying the fellowship of the Gospel (Phil. 1:1–11), and we are servants sharing in the advance of the Gospel (Phil. 1:12–26); but we are also soldiers defending the faith of the Gospel. The believer with the single mind can have the joy of the Holy Spirit even in the midst of battle.

“The faith of the Gospel” is that body of divine truth given to the church. Jude calls it “the faith which was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people” (Jude 3). God committed or entrusted this spiritual treasure to Paul (1 Tim. 1:11) and he in turn committed it to others, like Timothy (1 Tim. 6:20), whose responsibility was to commit this truth to still others (2 Tim. 2:2

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Kindergarten Christianity – Bill Muehlenberg

August 28, 2014 in apostasy, Bible, Christians, spiritual growth | Leave a comment

We have millions of believers who may have been saved decades ago, but are still acting like spiritual infants. They have not grown much, they have not progressed much in their walk with Christ, and their spiritual condition is rather anaemic and shallow.

They have not become genuine disciples in other words, and they are still stranded in a spiritual infancy. They can’t even handle the deep truths of God as revealed in Scripture. Indeed, many of them hardly even read their Bibles, barely pray, or engage in in-depth fellowship.

No wonder they are still floundering around as babies. They have not moved beyond the nursery. They are all stuck in day care. They are permanent residents of Christian kindergarten. Sadly this is so very widespread today in our churches.

As I said, there is a place for infancy. When you are a spiritual baby, then spiritual milk is of course quite appropriate. Peter speaks to this truth here: “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Peter 2:2-3).

But all babies are meant to move on. No one wants to see a ten-year-old or twenty-year-old baby in the physical world. Nor is it fitting in the spiritual world. That is why Paul chews out the Corinthians in this regard. It is time for them to move on:

“Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly” (1 Corinthians 3:1-3).

The writer to the Hebrews makes the same case: “We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity” (Heb 5:11-6:1).

The question arises here: just whose fault is this? I would argue it is the fault of both individual Christians in the pews, and the pastors in the pulpits. Regardless of what is being taught from the pulpits, believers have a responsibility for their own personal growth and development. They cannot blame the pastor or the church for their own unwillingness to take the necessary steps to achieve genuine spiritual growth.

We all know that regular reading of the Word, regular prayer times, and regular times of corporate fellowship and worship are essential in the spiritual development of any believer. Without taking the basic and essential steps of growth and discipleship, we will remain spiritual pygmies.

And far too many Christians feed only on spiritual junk food. Instead of proper Christian nourishment the regular diet of many is pop Christianity. Books about being a better you, having a nice self-image, and even losing weight for Jesus, make up far too many reading lists of emaciated believers today.

 

Complete article HERE

Going Against God “just for fun”

August 24, 2014 in christianity, contemplative spirituality, Life, Spiritual Life | Tags: , , , , | 1 comment

Going against God “just for fun”

By Marsha West

Today we’re hearing a lot about Spiritism or Spiritualism, not to be confused with spiritual or spirituality, as in “I’m not religious, I’m spiritual,” or “I’m into spirituality.” The term Spiritism has replaced what was once called animism and other religious practices involving the invocation of spiritual beings.

Some religions meld Spiritualism with Christianity. For example, a blend of Christian and African folk beliefs that originated in Brazil is now practiced in the U.S. Spiritualism is much the same as Spiritism only it has adopted Christian rites and prayers. People visiting Spiritualistic services can be misled into thinking they’re Christian churches. The problem is Christianity cannot be melded with any other religion or practice.

One of the major tenets of Spiritism is reincarnation. The classic form of reincarnation originated in India in the 9th century BC. Reincarnation has become a hot topic in our post-modern culture.

There are a whole host of beliefs about reincarnation. The most widely touted belief is that upon death one’s spirit exits the body in search of another body to inhabit. Believing in reincarnation gives hope for continuing one’s existence in further lives to work off one’s karma. Karma is broadly defined as the consequences of one’s actions.

Ask professing Christians as they flow through the doors of a Sunday worship service if they believe in reincarnation, some will give you a cavalier “Yes,” as if it’s no big deal for believers to mix Christianity with mystical beliefs. However,

Finish article HERE

Haunted Souls

August 22, 2014 in contemplative spirituality, discernment, Life, religion, Spiritual Life, Yoga | Leave a comment

 

HAUNTED SOULS
From Meditation into Hallucinations

StAnthony

St. Anthony

By Pastor Larry DeBruyn

“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert.
Your adversary, the devil,
prowls around like a roaring lion,
seeking someone to devour.”
(Emphasis Added, 1 Peter 5:8, NASB)


As borrowed from the eastern mystical religions, meditative or contemplative spirituality-the operation of which involves engaging in ascetic practices and retreating into solitude (getting alone with God) and silence (remaining quiet before God)-has emerged among evangelical Christians as a popular way to experience God’s love and receive revelations from Him, for intimacy breeds communication.[1]Interestingly, this discovery among evangelicals about how to find “spirituality” now parallels the “mindfulness” revolution taking place in secular society.
 

By shucking their ever-present cell phones, tabloids, I-pods and other distractions, increasing numbers of people from all walks of life-athletes, educators, corporate execs and workers, politicians, government workers and members of the military-attempt to “de-stress” their lives by attending “mindfulness” retreats where under the direction of spiritual tutors, they learn to meditate with the hope that will discover “a new consciousness” to help them cope with life.[2] To promote “mindfully” working, playing, parenting, test taking, and even going to war, the practice of meditation is rising in America. Based on the increase of its popularity over the last decade, it’s estimated that in the near future more than 27 million American adults will engage in meditation.[3] To cope, they contemplate.

But amidst the rising popularity of this mindfulness revolution, a dark secret lurks in the background. One advocate of “Christian” contemplation, the Quaker Richard Foster, recommends meditation as a means for developing a deeper spirituality. But as to its practice, he also issues a disclaimer (Mark this quotation.):

I also want to give a word of precaution. In the silent contemplation of God we are entering deeply into the spiritual realm, and there is such a thing as supernatural guidance that is not divine guidance . . . there are various orders of spiritual beings, and some of them are definitely not in cooperation with God and his way![4]

Though a significant majority of non-Christian meditators report benefits derived from the activity, some indicate that the exercise does not invariably promote psychological wellness.[5]

 

So it would be well for any would-be meditators, Christian or otherwise, to consider what could happen to their minds if they engage the practice. Meditation can go mad. Examples where this has happened, both modern and ancient, are known. We begin with reports from a rehab center which focuses on helping people restore the soundness of mind they possessed before they began to meditate.

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