Author: Linda Cook

California native who moved to Kootenai County, Idaho 30 years ago. Fierce conservative, former Congressional Aide to Helen Chenoweth, married to Army Ranger (he says those don’t retire), reformed trouble maker, grandmother of four who is looking to create a sounding board for informed, thoughtful, inquisitive commenters.

 

Sound Advice

Friends, in Noah’s day, with lawlessness and rebellion all around him, Noah did not go engage in battle with the damned or try to use force to stop their insane debauchery.  Noah just worked on the Ark as they laughed at him.  All the way up until the Flood came and took them all away.  I am asking The Lord to make me more diligent in building the Ark (metaphorically, meaning, strengthening my dependence on Him alone).  ~Clark Albritton

I spotted this strong wisdom this morning and it answered a question that’s been burning in my brain for years.  As we watch this world sail blithely into destruction, many of us strive to hold it back.  We get politically involved, we start blogs, we search the word of God.  I’ve long since written off Drag Queens and school boards and have honed in on fellow Christians who have fallen in love with a fake Jesus.

 

 

I’ve been singled out from the pulpit for being divisive, told I was blaspheming the Holy Spirit, and called a pharisee.  And that’s just from friends!

Here’s the problem, divisiveness comes from introducing new doctrines, not defending sound Biblical doctrine.

If we can’t have unity and agreement upon The Truth then we can’t have unity. True unity is in the unity of the Spirit of Truth.

“Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who 👉🏼cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. 👈 For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.”
Romans 16:17-18

Divisiveness is going beyond what is written. It is going outside the boundary of the Truth of Gods written Word. Those who do such a thing are not true servants of God, in fact they have not God (2  John 9) ~The Bible In Context

 

I’ve also read in Revelation, as John’s encounter is wrapping up it says: “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.  He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.” ~Rev. 22:10-11

If you want to follow a fake Jesus, false prophets and teachers who feel they have a new revelation, a fresh take on God, be my guest.

I’ll be over here, building a boat.

 

Seven Mountain Mandate and Other Fables

All Power Be Unto . . . Us???

If you follow the NAR churches like Bill Johnson’s church in Redding, California you’ll have heard of the mandate where Christians are given power to dominate the earth in preparation for Christ’s return.  So you don’t want to be a Christ follower?  Tough.  We have the POWER.  It’s called Dominion Theology and doesn’t that sound nice?

These selective readers of the Bible will control:

1. Education
2. Religion
3. Family
4. Business
5. Government/Military
6. Arts/Entertainment
7. Media

The movement is gaining momentum but it’s all lies.  Jesus never said that’s the way it’s going down.  Read Revelation or simply read the following from The Bible in Context.  Your life depends on it.

Christianizing the world and destroying Satan’s kingdom before Jesus comes back is NOT a Bible doctrine and is impossible to accomplish by redeemed man. Satan will be the ruler of this world UNTIL Jesus comes back.

The church has NEVER been given a mission to change the world and “Christianize it,” actually we are to rescue people out from it. It is not God’s plan for the Church to take over and implement dominion over this present evil world before He returns.

We need to see it as it is written. The world is getting worse and no sanctified earthly or spiritual government of man will turn it around no matter how good their intentions may be.

For anyone to reign over a kingdom they establish in His name is unknowingly preparing the earth for the Antichrist who will rule first, before Christ comes to set up His Kingdom on earth.

If one eliminates this crucial understanding of the last days he will have no defense against the coming deception that has begun to sweep the earth and trap its inhabitants for “the testing” and God’s judgments.

Daniel sees the Messiah destroy this kingdom that exists when he returns, “a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces” (Daniel 2:34-35). It is the anti-Christ’s kingdom that will be destroyed by the word of His mouth and glory (Isaiah 11:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:8). It is the stone cut out of the mountain without hands that destroys this last kingdom of man.

Defend yourself against deception by staying diligent and intentional about studying God’s Word!

We released a Mini-Course on “How To Study Scripture” taken out from inside the online Bible college.

Go listen to it now

👇

https://www.philippians19.org/study/

 

In Spirit and In Truth

Oh Look A Poisonous Tree – Let’s Eat!

How must God be worshipped?  If we go to the book of John 4:24 we have our answer.  In spirit and in truth. But can we do it with music?  Yes!  May we do it with the way we live?  Yes!  How about how we speak?  Sure thing.  There are only two recognizable parameters and one of them is truth.

When most of us think of worship, we think of songs sung to God.  Yet for most of us, thinking hasn’t had that much to do with it.  The worship team leads the way and off we go.  Why get uptight when everyone is having a good time?   

“Worship with loud guitars.  Praise with thunderous amplification.  Deafen the heathens.  Let the drums rattle the enemy.  Let thy guitar solo be heard over the whole earth”.  1 Opinions 23:7 (Amplified Version) ~  Ken De Vries  

That’s surely good enough for Sunday mornings, but is it what God requires?    If the beat is strong, if the sound is amplified, if the light show is rocking it, do we really need truth?  Tragically, the answer coming from most American churches is “no”.

Music bypasses all of the intellectual barriers.  Don’t think, just sing.  Truth be damned.

“Johnson’s statement undermines one of the most common defenses made by pastors and worship leaders who allow Bethel Music to be used in their churches.  They say they are fine using the music from NAR (New Apostolic Reformation) churches (even though they may disagree with those churches’ theology) as long as the lyrics are sound.  In other words, they believe the source of the music doesn’t matter.  They point out that no church or songwriter has perfect theology (which is true, but there is a big difference between expecting a church to have perfect theology vs. expecting them to not promote harmful and dangerous teachings).  Ironically, those same pastors would probably never allow their churches to use music from a controversial church like Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas.  They (rightfully) would not want to look like they are promoting the hateful rhetoric spouted by that church.  So, though they say the source of a song doesn’t matter, it’s doubtful that they truly believe that.”  -Counterfeit Kingdom

Does the source matter?  The Bible says it does.  “You will know them by their fruits.  Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?  Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ~Matthew 7: 16-18

 

Bethel Church is a tree full of poison but it has great music if you count high emotions and 249 million Spotify downloads as a qualifier of greatness.  I don’t, which doesn’t matter, but neither does God and that should matter a great deal.  I say ‘should’ because it doesn’t, not to the vast majority of churches in America, including mine.

A cookbook written by Jeffrey Dahmer may have 1 good recipe in it, but I wouldn’t know because I wouldn’t read the book after realizing the source. ~Dan Mullin

A tad graphic but I couldn’t resist.  This was a comment on a previous post I made and the point is stark.  Why are we internalizing death-dealing doctrine?

“Music is a means of worship.  Music reinforces beliefs.  And music prepares us for action.  Lyrics, rhythm and beat all contribute to the effect that music has in our lives.  Heartfelt song expresses our outlook on life, the things we believe, our expectations and emotions.  Music inclines us to be receptive or unreceptive to certain messages.  Our experience of God is conditioned by the songs we sing.” -Counterfeit Kingdom

 

I’m begging you, let our worship be worthy of the God we serve.

 

 

 

 

 

Contend for the Faith

Or Shut Up for Unity

 I wonder if you can follow and defend false prophets and false teachers and still be saved.  Some do this in ignorance, some in the firm belief they are furthering God’s kingdom.  He is the judge and that comes as an enormous relief.  So why should we contend for the faith?  Does it matter?  Are we simply being annoying or are we actually helping keep some from hell?

Oh Shut Up

If the followers of false apostles, prophets and teachers are still going to go to heaven, what’s the use of warning them?  I’ve tried and have been warned against being a pharisee, blaspheming the Holy Spirit and operating in a religious spirit.  My pastor did a podcast on ‘Christians attacking other Christians’ calling it opposition research based on “fear, anger and pride”.  He also asserted we are majoring in the minors and should not pass judgment on disputable matters.  There was a cautionary statement that if we do not seek out the false teachers individually first, we must not criticize them, we should rather “just be quiet” or we look foolish.  The problem is that there are different Biblical instructions for individual offense and false teachers broadcasting lies.  

So when the Apostle Paul was writing his second epistle to Timothy and he warned sharply “not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers.  Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.  But shun profane and idle babbling, for they will increase to more ungodliness.  And their message will spread like cancer.  Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort . . .”

If my pastor is correct, Paul should not have uttered a word about this, and should not have warned the church until he had a one-on-one with Hymenaeus and Philetus.  We don’t know if he did, the Word is silent on that.  What the word is noisy about is warning the church.  Should we follow Paul’s example in this modern day – or just shut up for the sake of peace and unity?

If it’s merely ‘Christians attacking other Christians’ then it’s just division and strife for the sake of arrogance.  So are we pretending to be on a wolf hunt but the pelts tacked up to the barn wall are all wooly?  What are we hunting?  How do you tell a wolf from a sheep?  Well, for starters, you can go by what it’s eating.

This is where verification through the Word comes in so handy.  The Spirit of God will never stray from the Word of God.  If the Bible is silent about something, we can be too.  If the Bible is noisy about something, we can be too.  The Bible says we can know people by their fruit.  If preachers are attempting to separate the Spirit of God from the Word of God that’s a clue. Here’s what wolves say “I feel that the Lord is saying . . .”.    Feelings aren’t truth.  If you are using feelings to feed on sheep, you’re a wolf. 

This is what I wish my pastor had said because some pastors are giving wolves cover by demanding people’s assent through silence. I will not go gently into that dark night.

 

Go ahead, call me divisive, proud, fearful, angry, I’ll take it.  Still, I’ll listen rather to Paul who said to Timothy “Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine.  Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.” ~I Timothy 4:16

Good doctrine is important.  Action against false doctrine is commanded.  We are called to stand.

The Bible In Context

This is a heavy post, but one the needs to be heard today. The Church needs to get back to a knowledge of God’s Truth in context!

Sadly, we currently have an entire generation of mainly charismatic and Pentecostal Christians who have never been to a proper Bible study in terms of exegesis of Scripture (didaskein—Greek), nor heard a proper sermon in terms of expository preaching (homilea—Greek).

The exposition of Scripture is replaced by psycho-babble, anecdotes, verses out of context and, too often, just plain hype and con-artistry.

Since such people never had actual pastors in the biblical sense of shepherds who feed the sheep, they die slowly of malnutrition, eating straw instead of grain (Jeremiah 23:28) and have no grasp of the biblical doctrine that Paul says is essential to Christian growth and health (Titus 2:1).

Consequently, they wind up believing anything, including the very deceptions we are warned would come in the last days
(2 Timothy 4: 3-5). They accuse those who follow the command of the Lord (1 Timothy 1:3) in condemning unbiblical doctrines, of being unloving and divisive.

The modern state of affairs has become one where such people simply do not know any better and do not understand that it is rather those who depart from the teachings of Scripture who are divisive (Romans 16:17), not those who will attempt to protect the Body from such deception.

 

Lambs to the Slaughter

A Perspective From the Desert

I grew up in Modoc County, California.  When I mention the main town, Alturas, people ask “what’s it near”?  Nothing, I respond, because if I told them Canby, Termo, Ravendale or Likely, their faces remain blank.  It’s a vast, windy, arid, high desert.  Across the Warner Mountains, lies Surprise Valley, where there’s a population of Basque families.   They raise sheep in harsh conditions, with parsimonious land in terms of feed, water, and moderate temperatures.  It is generous in one way – coyotes.

 

When it’s lambing season, terrible things can happen.  Packs of coyotes flood in.  When the ewes are at their most vulnerable, as the lambs are emerging, is the choice time for the coyotes to strike.  It’s known that they will consume the emerging lamb, the hindquarters of the ewe, killing both, before moving on to the next target.  The carnage of these vulnerable sheep is heart-wrenching.  Entire flocks can be killed, not entirely eaten, just wasted.

This gets us to the Asbury ‘revival’.  Plenty of sheep, the wolves surging toward the flock, and some people calling out warnings.  I’ve shared many balanced perspectives, Biblically based, which call for restraint, discernment, and waiting to see any good fruit emanating from this gathering, before coming to a firm decision.  I’ve been called several things, most of which are not complimentary.  Or given instructions like the following:

I’m clearly dealing with an intellectual.

I do long for revival but I don’t care for viral gatherings based on false prophecy:

 

I know you might think me stubborn, but it’s a good time for 2nd Thessalonians Chapter Two.  

“Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.  Let no one deceive you by any means; for That Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, . . .”

I’m concerned at this point in time, with a giant falling away, even one that might appear to be the opposite, even one that just feels so good.

I also am leary of the flood of false teachers rushing to the exact spot where little lambs are emerging but not even able to walk yet.  Why would I claim the students at Asbury can’t walk?  It’s a place where Spiritual Formation (it’s included in the curriculum)  and Contemplative Praying are promoted.  According to an article from Truthkeepers.com:

“Spiritual Formation is contemplative spirituality, and it is sweeping quickly throughout Christianity today.  If a college, a seminary, a church, or an organization wants a spiritual Formation, may they keep in mind, they will get eastern mediation and the occultic realms that accompany it.

Contemplative Praying is a pagan practice that came into Protestantism via the Roman Catholic Church.  RCC mystic, Thomas Merton, recognized the church was void of spirituality.  His search for spirituality led him to associate with a Buddhist colony where he discovered Contemplative praying.  The Buddhists received it from the desert-dwelling Sufi Muslims.   . . . This mystical stream contemplative prayer is the Western bridge to Far Eastern spirituality.  One cannot get more New Age than Spiritual Formation and Contemplative Praying.”

 

Essentially this is a group that is being fed toxic waste blended in with Christianity or as my pastor, Jim Putman of Real Life Ministries, would call it “Rat Poison Theology”.  As is clear from the list of ingredients on many rat poisons, about 95% of the contents are harmless, some might even be good for you, but the poison contained in the box will kill you.  The rest of it is just to get you to eat it in the first place.  The lambs at Asbury are already in a weakened condition.

There’s almost nothing more precious than a newborn lamb and almost nothing more heart-wrenching than seeing it meet a brutal death before it sees the light of day.  We can’t kill all the coyotes but we can mobilize to protect the lambs.

What Are You Calling Insufficient?
 A Word from Chris Hohnholz

It is my firm conviction that the attitudes we see in Christian culture regarding #Asbury, shows such as #TheChosen, and “evangelism campaigns” like #HeGetsUs have a common denominator: the denial (be it tacit or explicit) of the sufficiency of Scripture.

In each instance, any effort to demonstrate discernment, to examine these issues and see if there is Biblical truth to any of them, is often met with animosity, scorn, or ridicule (or a combination of all of them). These things have become something of a golden calf within modern evangelicalism and any attempt to biblically examine or question their warrant for Christian use is equated with questioning God Himself.

Why is this? I believe it boils down to the idea that Scripture simply isn’t enough for many professing Christians. Studying, understanding the true meaning, and determining the application of the Scriptures is time and mind-consuming work. It is not flashy or adrenaline-pumping. It doesn’t give us instant gratification but forces us to examine God’s Word and what it means. It requires us to measure ourselves against it as the standard. It is laborious but rewarding beyond measure.

Yet, in our 24/7 world where access to any kind of entertainment or information is merely a mouse click away, we think the Scriptures themselves simply are not enough. We need something more. Something visual, something experiential.  We think that the world will not come rushing to Jesus unless we give them glitz, glam, and feelings of euphoria.

We then look outside the Scriptures for our answers. Madison Avenue style advertising, Hollywood story-telling, and top 40’s music charts certainly draw in the crowds, so why not adopt these ideas? If it even brings one person to Christ, let’s do it, right? Wrong.

Yes, God can draw a straight line with a crooked ruler but that is not what He has given us. His command is not to woo and emote people into the kingdom. It is to make disciples. It is to proclaim the whole of the gospel. To preach on the sinfulness of sin, the just wrath to come, and the only means of escape through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

This message doesn’t scintillate the senses but it brings about conviction within the heart. It doesn’t produce immediate emotion that can be led and manipulated. Yet, it will produce a result. Either conviction that brings about repentance and faith or the continued hardening of an already rock-hard heart against Christ. The difference is in what or whom we trust.

When we look to the Asbury-style events, the TV shows, and media campaigns, we trust in our own cleverness and the ingenuity of man. When we do the laborious work of studying Scripture to show ourselves approved, we trust in God and His Word alone. We trust in the power of the Holy Spirit to regenerate and transform. We are not the means of salvation. We are merely God’s instruments as He does the work through us by the proclamation of His Word.

Why do some of us call these movements and campaigns into question? Quite simply because we wish to be Bereans, comparing the claims of these things against Scripture to see if they be true. When the rest of the professing Christian culture gets up in arms about this, simply remember that where they would rather trust in the means of man, we are looking to God and His Word alone as the true means of discipleship.

So You Think It’s a Revival
(Please note:  I did not write this, I found it on Facebook)

Would God leave His people without a way to examine ALL things? Would God do a thing that prevents believers from being able to immediately examine it? Would He require believers to wait some undisclosed amount of time to “see what happens?” If the devil inspired a revival today, would we know how to examine it? Would the devil duplicate old false revivals or reinvent new ‘Moves of God” to lure in an unsuspecting crowd? Would the devil aim to target young impressionable youths mostly devoid of sound doctrine and ignorant of the false “moves of God” throughout Church history? Does the devil seek to be worshiped and praised?

I Will Not Trade My Bible For Revival

Let’s examine these things.

All too often people today are testing the supernatural or spiritual things, by what they hear or see, by their experiences, or by their feelings.  If it feels good or right, they “bear witness.”

Another way we see people “testing the spirits” today is by just accepting it by faith, since whatever is happening is inside the church, and therefore “must be from God.”

NONE of these forms of testing are a biblical measure for Truth and they have more in common with the way the world operates, than the Church.

Not all supernatural experiences are from God. Just because it is real does not always mean it is true or authentic. Satan can perform lying signs and wonders that exhibit power just as the apostles did.

All supernatural or spiritual events must be tested before they can be embraced as truth. Don’t be intimidated by big names or multitudes of people saying not to test things. It’s your spiritual right, even your obligation, for your own protection.

The Apostle of Love in 1 John 4:1 tells us to try or “test the spirits.” This command is for our protection. It is not an option.
For example: The way to test a false prophet was by doctrine, not by what they would predict, because in Deuteronomy 13 God says it can actually come to pass, but that He is testing you whether you love the Lord. 

We need to be cautious in hearing and experiencing spiritual “stuff”.

The spiritual man or woman can discern all things. This shows maturity as Hebrews 5:13-14 says. 2 John 9 speaks to us about deceivers and tells us the only way to know is by doctrine: “Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God;”

The Word of God is available to everyone, and it “is quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12).  So, we are to use the written Word of God for ourselves and others to discriminate concerning a teaching or whatever is transpiring in any supernatural service.

Of course, God is still active today. He has not been lazy or not “moving” as some might imply with their claim of how all of a sudden God is moving. God wrote the Word and taught believers the doctrine of Christ. He has chosen to limit how He works by working within the parameters of what He has revealed in His Word. He will not go beyond what is written and neither should we.

Today we are confronted with a new type of Gospel, one of experiencing the supernatural. Signs and wonders were never the focus. The Focus was Christ and Him Crucified, His forgiveness and man being reconciled to a Holy God.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 7 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven.” Just saying things in His Name or doing things, especially great and wondrous things, in His Name does not make you or anyone a Christian. Read Matthew 7:21-25 because the devil can and will counterfeit outward manifestations.

When you are under deception, you are able to justify any action as long as Jesus’ name is attached to it.

Those who trust in their experiences will all be fooled because they have no measuring stick. They are not familiar with the Word, nor do they abide in it to be immune from deceptions.
Satan is not just a counterfeiter, he is an inventor, especially when it comes to religious-spiritual practices. He uses clever deceptive means to get people from one level of deception to the next. Satan has a counterfeit program involving signs and wonders that he has used throughout history.

God made it clear that it is an evil generation that seeks a sign! Nothing has changed in the Word of God nor in the heart of man. A true supernatural experience will always complement the Word NOT contradict it.

We need to look at all supernatural events from a biblical perspective. It is inconsistent with God’s character to allow His supernatural power to accompany false teachers/teachings that deny what He has so clearly said in His word.

Deception aimed against the Church will take place inside the church, make no mistake.

God still does miracles, but He will NOT honor falsehood with the power of His presence. Any sign or wonder or supernatural event must be questioned and tested by the Word rather than relying on the experience itself to validate it.

Examining the fruit of a person is examining what they say, do and teach and if it conforms to the written Word of God. If it is not in accordance with Gods Word, it is not good fruit and it is not abiding in the doctrine of Christ and therefore not abiding on the vine (John 15:4).

The fruit being examined is of individuals and NOT ministries or supernatural events. There is no waiting to examine the fruit of a “move of God.” God will always honor Truth and move people towards repentance and the gospel. A move of God will always move people towards an accurate understanding of the Truth written in Gods Word. God has indeed limited Himself to operate within the parameters of His Truth which He has revealed to us through His Son and by the written Word of God.

C.D. Cole stated it well by saying, “People who are looking for miracles as a sign or proof of God’s presence and favor are putting themselves in a good position to be deceived. What is supernatural is not necessarily divine.”

A.W. Tozer once said “It is no sin to doubt some things but it may be fatal to believe everything.”

You can’t know what not to participate in unless you judge by God’s Word, and then after you find out it’s wrong you are obligated to let others know.

The one thing that God does not say is to do nothing and leave it ALL up to Him.  He tells us to do what is right. One must be mature to do what is right.

To judge teachings and supernatural occurrences is to act in love. To stand by and ignore them while falsehood continues to spread and misleads and even destroys many lives is negligence. It is the absence of true discipleship and compassion. True love is not silent when people are being misled or deceived.

There is ALWAYS real cheese in a rat trap.

What if this whole event is a trap. What if this whole thing was planned months prior to occur days prior to a scheduled ecumenical and NAR prayer day across college campuses nationwide. What if this whole thing is a marketing strategy to create momentum and hype before they launch their product or true intentions? What if after the day of “prayer” on February 23rd the “revival” moves off location to a more convenient place for deceivers to now move in? What if they begin to schedule the services and “close doors?” Does Gods Spirit rest? What if they use the gullibility and kindness of many well intended Christians to promote a manufactured move of God powered by the Social Media giants? What if the god of this world knows exactly what he is doing?

Do not underestimate the power that Satan has and is allowed to use by God to test believers to see if they love Truth.

 

Ounce of Prevention

When the gorgeous actress Catherine Zeta-Jones decided to get married to the then-reigning champion of infidelity, Michael Douglas, she showed she’s not just a looker, she’s a thinker too.    Their prenuptial agreement contained a $5 million-per-instance-of-adultery clause.  Nothing like a strong contract. If you want a relationship filled with devotion and the knowledge you are cherished, it might be better to take a pass, or you could go for the money.

My church is following suit.  Dancing around what looks like a good time, but with a binding contract just in case.  When I told my pastor what I’m about to tell you he responded that she has been put under a firm contract to not deviate from solid Christianity.  Forgot to ask if we get $5 million an occurrence.

Still, the burning question is why.  Why venture into a relationship with someone you must contain with a strong contract?  Go for a guy you know loves you enough to be faithful.  Go for someone to instruct the women in your church who is well, Christian.

You see we invited a sparkly blonde darling of the American church to speak.  Her name is Jennie Allen.  You can visit her website and she’ll tell you all about herself.  She’s a “Bible teacher, author, and the founder and visionary of IF: Gathering. I love God and I believe in this generation of women”.

Jennie is bursting with bubbly deliciousness and yet her IF: Gathering leadership team is a who’s who (not to be) of the current spiritual movement.

Jen Hatmaker has been a close associate but no longer publicly appears with the team, perhaps it’s because her open advocacy of homosexuality is getting cumbersome to explain away. If you think same-sex marriages can be sacred, as Jen asserts, by all means, hang with this crowd.

Ann Voskamp has written a book called One Thousand Gifts. Here’s an excerpt:

I Fly to Paris and Discover How To Make Love To God

“God lays down all of His fullness into all the emptiness.  I am in Him.  He is in me.  I embrace God in the moment.  I give Him thanks and I bless God and we meet and couldn’t I make love to God, making every moment love for Him?  To know Him the way Adam knew Eve.  Spirit skin to spirit skin.  The intercourse of soul with God is the very climax of joy.”

My skin crawled to such an extent on this one, it disappeared for three days.  I had to talk it out of a hole so that I could re-clothe myself and continue typing. 

Less creepy but just as dangerous are the rest of the gals Jennie surrounds herself with. 

Kay Warren (Rick Warren’s wife)

Joyce Meyer

Christine Caine of Hillsong Church

Beth Moore

Latasha Morrison, Black Lives Matter supporter.  Check this out, is scripture on her mind?

I believe it’s safe to say, all are woke and completely asleep.

Yet, how about Jennie herself?  Let’s use her own words.  This is from her Dream Guide.

“It really is as simple as this.  Do the best you can in this world and as you’re going, love God and give Him away to people.” (Not Christian, not even close)

“When we create and thrive for the good of others, you’re participating in God’s redemptive work of making the world better.”  (This one neither)

If you think this is Christianity, you need to get a Bible and read the thing.  Jennie should too because she said “the Enneagram is the tool that has helped my interior work most profoundly.”  Don’t know what that is?  It’s a guide to show you your deepest, purest essence, created under admitted demonic influence and developed for over 100 years with ‘spirit guides’.  The creators admit it has elements of  Kabbalah, Taoism, Buddhism, Islam, and as they put it ‘Christianity’.  A witches’ brew of blended lies.

I like my Christianity the way I used to like my whiskey – neat.  Undiluted, pure, strong.  The good stuff.  I’ve knocked off the whiskey but my taste in Christianity is only getting more discerning.  I’m not going to swallow a cheap blend because in the end it’s the most expensive of all.

 

So it looks like we’re passing on prevention but using a contract as a safeguard.  The pound of cure is still coming.  God help us.

 

 

The bygone era in which I was raised contained an oft-quoted maternal challenge:  “If all your friends ran off a cliff, would you do it too?”   We always prefer to think we wouldn’t but we should stop flattering ourselves.  Truly independent thinkers are rare enough to draw vilification straight from the gate.

In settings where conformity and submission are considered desirable traits, as in Christian churches, there is more pressure to abstain from critical, independent thought.  We just call it “unity.”

A couple of references from the Book of Ephesians are enlightening.  There is one passage that speaks of how Christians should behave with gentleness, longsuffering, bearing with each other in love and “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” ~ Eph. 4:3.  Further in the chapter, we can read about roles Jesus himself has given us, apostles, prophets, evangelists, etc. “for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of knowledge of the Son of God, . . .”

There are also passages about division,  not all of them censorious.  In Titus 3:10, we are told to reject a “divisive man after a first and second admonition.”  Christians are also warned to “watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have received.” In Corinthians 1:10 “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.”  Clearly, Christians aren’t meant to quarrel and jealousy seems to be cited as the source of strife. (Corinthians 3:3)

One-upmanship is never appreciated unless you are the one who is doing the upping. Yet, what if a separate, reasoned, informed stance is promoted within the church and there’s no motive except to save lives and/or souls?  

Is ignorance the overwhelming glue that ties a church together?  Must we close our eyes, plug our ears, hold our noses and swallow the government-mandated evil swill of submission to a clutch of Satanists?

I’m not just talking about the current bio-weapon of choice which Bill Gates of Hell calls a vaccine, although if you read my other posts, you know I’d rather take a bullet than the shot.   The fact that this jab changes the victim’s DNA is not even in dispute and also the patents which claim control over the injected are already in place, so the church should wake the hell up.

I’m also talking about the ‘woke’ church.  How abortion laws should be left untouched.  How transgenders are fine, how homosexuality is not really a sin.  How the founders of Black Lives Matter are making a valid point.  Never mind them laughing at all the hapless white people saying “But, but why don’t y’all stop killing each other?”

You want to brand me as divisive?  Fire away.  I’m still going to take scriptural integrity and spiritual fidelity over singing Kumbaya with a bunch of folks heading straight to the grave.

For anyone who sees a lack of unity as a sign of immaturity, remember Jesus saying, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth.  I did not come to bring peace but a sword.” ~Matthew 10:34

At some point, the Church has to stop taking the name of God in vain.  I don’t mean the shallow interpretation of not using God’s name as a cussword.  I mean don’t call yourself a Christian and then be anything but.  We have to actually DO what God says.  We have to follow Him.  Then we can be unified.  Then Jeremiah 32:38 kicks in:  “They shall be My people, and I will be their God; ‘then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them.”

Until that threshold is achieved, Jesus has something to say about the times we’re currently in.  In Revelation, the Church is called to repentance and there are listed consequences if we don’t.   I know some Christians assert that everyone has their name written in the Book of Life and that Christians’ names are never blotted out.  Only unbelievers are erased, they tell themselves.  That could never happen to ME.  Uhm, check this out – Jesus is talking to YOU.

 Rev. 3:5. “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”‘  

As for the rest “All who dwell on the earth will worship him [the Beast], whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”

It would seem there are three categories: 

  • Name Written in Book of Life
  • Name Written in Book of Life and Blotted Out
  • Name Not Written in Book of Life

The lemmings don’t just run off a cliff, they get blotted out afterward.  I’m imploring you to break loose from the herd because that cliff is now in plain view.  Stop running and stand.