“I don’t think I’m evil,” she says, irritated that she is being pressed on her beliefs. “The heart of man is not wicked, and being taught that will definitely keep you from seeking it.” She goes on to say that God has given us an “inner compass,” and that we are not encouraged to follow it, because of religious beliefs. This was a conversation I had not too long ago. Most people believe that human beings are not inherently evil, and, therefore, do not need a savior. What Christians would view as evil is generally rationalized as illusory, or ignorance, and not the fault of humankind.According to her belief system, all we have to do is get in touch with our inner “God,” and we can move on to the next level of consciousness—Christ-consciousness. God is in us, God is us. We can become one with God, a God who is an unconscious, impersonal, creative force, in which manifests itself in nature and material, and various gods throughout history.

This is the typical thought process of those who have been seduced and indoctrinated by the New Age. But is this really a “new” concept? Satan has been using this line of deception since the beginning of creation. When God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden of Eden, he told them that they could eat from any tree, except for one. God told them that their disobedience to him, the fulfillment of their selfish desires, would cause them to die. But the serpent beguiled them into trying to find satisfaction apart from God, and they disobeyed and ate. Satan told them that God wasn’t being truthful with them, and that by eating the fruit, they would become like God himself, that eating of the fruit wasn’t evil, but good, and that God was trying to hide this “truth” from them. This lie in the Garden forms the basis of all false religious systems today, including the New Age.

This seduction into this esoteric (hidden) knowledge is central to most cults, Eastern mystic religions, and the New Age.  This idea that man is becoming God, is God, or God is in man is taught in Hinduism, Taoism, and even Roman Catholicism, a false religious system masquerading as Christianity. Even Buddhism and Atheist religions to a certain extent teach a type of humanistic self-worship. This concept is known as pantheism. As part of this teaching, evil is usually said not to exist or is rationalized as ignorance, caused by evil spirits rather than man, and should be warded off using mystical means. It’s also taught to be part of a dualistic oneness composed of good and evil, a Yin and Yang, so that in reality there is no good or evil, just opposing equal forces. But the Bible teaches that evil is sin, a rebellion against God the creator, a pursuit of satisfaction apart from him (Matthew 5:19, Proverbs 8:13, John 3:19-20, John 8:44, 1 John 3:8).

It’s also taught to be part of a dualistic oneness composed of good and evil, a Yin and Yang, so that in reality there is no good or evil, just opposing equal forces. But the Bible teaches that evil is sin, a rebellion against God the creator, a pursuit of satisfaction apart from him (Matthew 5:19, Proverbs 8:13, John 3:19-20, John 8:44, 1 John 3:8).

Sadly, even prominent Evangelicals are dabbling in this divination. Rick Warren is probably one of the most well-known Evangelical pastors of today, yet his ministry tends to lead people into the practice of forbidden things. He encourages the use of Breath Prayers in his book, The Purpose Driven Life (pp. 89, 299) and on his website, Pastors.com, contemplatives Richard Foster, Philip Yancey, Charles Stanley and many more are recommended. He has had well-known New Age sympathizer Leonard Sweet train pastors at his church, and another in Atlanta in 2008. Other prominent Evangelicals that practice divination, and claim to channel direct revelations from God are Matt Chandler, Beth Moore, Mark Driscoll and Steven Furtick (2 Peter 2:1). Yoga is now regularly practiced in many Evangelical churches and accepted as normal (2 Timothy 3:5).

The creative force, or principle, the God of the New Age who has deceived so many is generally believed to be un-relational, that is, it doesn’t deal directly with it’s creation, or “manifestation,” and that the various gods, or ascended masters are responsible for the relations with creation. God is not a conscious being, and cannot be known. As part of this philosophy, man can achieve his own “god-hood” by following the paths of these god-manifestations and by simply becoming aware of your “inner god.” When one becomes aware of his own inner-self, he becomes one with God. This is also a teaching of the Roman Catholic Church:

460 The Word became flesh to make us “partakers of the divine nature”:78 “For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God.”79 “For the Son of God became man so that we might become God.”80 “The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods.”81The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that Jesus Christ became man so that man can become God. This brings us back to the original lie of the serpent, that we can be God. This is the same concept that the New Age religion teaches. It teaches that Jesus Christ, among others like Buddha, Krishna, Muhammed, etc., were all teachers who had achieved their godhood by becoming aware of their inner-self, and becoming one with the divine, impersonal creative force.

Image of the New Age False Jesus

However, the practical methods of achieving this self-awareness are subjective and is accomplished in a multitude of ways. Among the easiest of these ways is through the use of hallucinogenic drugs. This is typically an introductory way of achieving an altered state of consciousness that leaves the user curious, and longing for more. Some of the more advanced techniques, however, require much practice and self-control, and involve the use of meditative techniques, such as Yoga. When entering into these altered states of consciousness, the person will usually have a euphoric spiritual experience, which leads them to believe that they have uncovered some kind of spiritual truth. But this “truth” is a deception. What New Agers fail to realize is that even the human desire for hidden knowledge is a result of our fallen state.

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” This isn’t because God is trying to hide good things from us, he is simply protecting us. He knows that the spiritual realm is filled with demons who want our souls. This is why he tells us to stay away from practicing divination or other spiritual paths that he has allowed (Deuteronomy 18:9-12, Leviticus 19:31, 2 Kings 21:6). It is our natural desire as sinful human beings to try to find fulfillment outside of God, and guess who’s there to exploit our sin? Satan.

Satan knows that our fallen hearts are deceitful, and wicked, and he will never miss an opportunity to pounce on that. Satan desires the worship of humans and will do anything to get that. The Bible says that Satan masquerades around as an angel of light (2 Cor 11:14). Satan has created an entire world full of religious systems that are devoted to worshiping him. One of the common beliefs between all of the world’s religious systems, including Buddhism and the New Age is that there will come another “Christ,” known as the Maitreya, who will lead the world into the Age of Aquarius. The general consensus among the followers of this religion is that we are on the verge of this right now, and this Maitreya is actually already living in the world right now, waiting to be called out by his people. He is allegedly making private appearances to people, and performing miracles. But the Bible teaches that this Maitreya is the Antichrist. The bible says about the antichrist:

He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. – Revelation 13:13-14

After the rapture, those left on the earth will be conditioned to believe in the lying signs and wonders he performs. He will perform a fake resurrection, which will bring awe to the world, and since the world has rejected the true Savior, Jesus Christ, they will readily accept Satan’s substitute, the Antichrist, and the world will worship him.

5And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. 6It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling,a that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them.b And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. – Revelation 13:5-8

So many people have been deceived into believing the lie, and, unfortunately, many will take this lie to their grave. This is exactly where the Devil wants you; he wants you to believe that you are a good person and that you don’t need a savior. He wants you to believe that Christianity is a dark force that tries to keep you from following your “good” heart. He wants you to trust in yourself, rather than in Christ Jesus because he knows that Jesus is the only true path to eternal life.

7Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8 or the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Megachurch pastor, Andy Stanley, of North Point Community Church gives his congregation an “improv” of Pope Francis, suggesting that Pope Francis will someday die to be with our Lord, Jesus Christ. “After I go to be with the Lord, when I open my eyes in the presence of Jesus…” he says, improvising a statement from the pope. What do you think? Does Andy Stanley believe the Pope’s Gospel is the same as the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, and will some day get him to heaven?

The Southern Baptist’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission’s President, Russell Moore, has been very outspoken about the need for the Church to address racism. In fact, the majority of the SBC’s leadership has followed him into the this rabbit hole and made dealing with racism their personal mission, as well as one of the official missions of the SBC. Additionally, the SBC hosted a “Racial Reconciliation Sunday,” in which a sermon outline, by Philip Bethancourt of the ERLC was to be preached at local churches. Thankfully, most Gospel centered churches, including mine, did not take this bait and run with it.


There appears to be an agenda within the ERLC, and Socialist Democrat, Russell Moore, who believes in a such thing as “Christian white supremacy,” is leading the cause. I am not truly convinced that Moore knows what a Christian is, at least what a Biblical Christian is. Moore has been using the unfortunate cases involving Michael Brown and Eric Garner to promote his Racial Reconciliation Agenda. He has made it clear that what he wants to happen in America, must first take place in the Church. But his idea for racial reconciliation in the Church is very similar to Affirmative Action. In fact, it’s nearly identical. His suggestions for promoting racial reconciliation in the church  is basically integrating a bunch of goats together at a dinner table, and working out their differences. He wants blacks and whites to set aside their differences and try to understand eachother. He believes that blacks are unjustly targeted by white cops simply because of their skin color. He wants whites to “try to understand” why blacks feel victimized by cops, and try to rationalize illegal behavior as a societal problem, rather than a personal responsibility problem. As I have mentioned before, this is antithetical to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and if you aren’t transformed by the Gospel, and you hold to any form of racism, or self exaltation, then you are not a Christian, and no matter how much integration you do with others, talk with others, or try to understand others, the social gospel is not going to change your heart. Moore’s bid is nothing more than an attempt to make a political change by introducing and normalizing social welfare among church-goers and seeking to bring them on board with Socialist Democratic ideas.

Russell Moore has long ties to the Democrat party, and in fact, he “still claims the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party as his home.” Moore has worked extensively with the Democrat party in the past, and has exalted the highly socialist U.S. Congressman Gene Taylor as “one of the greatest public servants I have ever known.” Moore’s only opposition to the Democratic party appears to be the fact that it is pro-choice, while Moore is, thankfully, pro-life. Now that Moore has infiltrated the largest Protestant denomination in the world, and worked his way to a relatively highly influential leadership position, he has been able to gather many followers and supporters within. Many of his supporters now include President of the SBC, Ronnie Floyd, President of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Danny Akin, his own Vice President, Philip Bethancourt, and many other influential leaders and pastors in the convention, including , Tony Evans, Thabiti Anyabwile, H.B. Charles, Dan Darling, Mike Cosper, Matthew Hall, and many more.

Tony Evans, a Democrat party sympathizer, tends to agree with Moore on his political motivations. Evans believes that Americans need to “grieve and repent over slavery.” Though he never really comes out right and says exactly what he means by repent, he seems to be insinuating that most Americans still believe that slavery wasn’t unjust. So what exactly does Evans want Americans to do to “repent” of slavery? America has put in to place a multitude of social welfare, wealth redistribution programs that benefit blacks. Does he want more restitution? Perhaps we will find out when he speaks at the 2015 summit.

Another speaker, Thabiti Anyabwile, says, “I stand with the protestors[sic] because they better demonstrate what genuine faith looks like.” What genuine faith is he referring to? The burning down of buildings of innocent store owners? The millions of dollars worth of collateral damage caused by the protesters? The assault and robbery by Michael Brown’s mother on some of the other protesters in Ferguson? Civil disobedience is not faith, it’s a Communist, Saul Alinsky-style of action to effect some type of political change, and apparently Anyabwile sympathizes with them.

Mike Cosper, Pastor of Worship and Arts at Soujourn Community Church in Louisville, KY, and staunch promoter of “white privilege” preached to his congregation “that churches are segregated today because white Christians failed to welcome and acknowledge the full humanity of their black brothers and sisters long ago.” This is total nonsense. Again, if you have anyone claiming to be a Christian that doesn’t recognize the full humanity of any person made in the image of God, they are not a Christian. The deeper issue here is not convincing them of someone else’s humanity, or working through differences, it’s that this person is a sinner who needs to repent, and believe the Gospel. “White privilege” is nothing more than another socialist/communist concept that portrays blacks as being victims of white supremacy, and helpless without government social welfare programs. In reality, these programs only enslave their victims even more by making them dependent on government programs that ultimately cannot treat the root cause of the problem—sin.

So now that Russell Moore has stacked his speaking schedule at the ERLC 2015 summit with like-minded Socialists and sympathizers, he now has a large influential pedestal to trumpet his socialist agenda within the Church. Having the President of the SBC, Ronnie Floyd, on board with him only stands to reinforce him. Ronnie Floyd regularly tells pastors what they should preach from the pulpit, generally to advance some point or idea of his, and stands on the notion that God told him to do so. Sadly, many pastors go along with him.

Moore is well known for compromising the Gospel of Jesus Christ to promote an ecumenical social and political gospel. He has joined hands with the unbelieving Catholic Church on a number of occasions to promote a social gospel of marriage (though he’s now calling for judges to uphold gay marriage, or resign), as well as a social gospel of pro-life. While these are good things to promote, Moore is not doing this in a biblical manner—by being salt and light in darkness, calling unbelievers to repentance. He is advancing a social political agenda among conservative church-goers, regardless of their beliefs, and treating them all like brothers and sisters in Christ, whether or not they really are, and using the visible church as a pedestal to effect political change. I believe this issue is really going to heat up in March at the 2015 ERLC Leadership Summit.

***See Follow-up Article Here: Russell Moore’s ERLC: Change Agents of the United Nations

President of Southern Baptist Convention, Ronnie Floyd, has for some time been known to dabble with questionable theology. He endorses the First Fruits tithing heresy of Robert Morris, and also endorses the contemplative mystic, Mark Batterson and his new age book, the Circle Maker. But another troubling partnership between Floyd and New Age mysticism exists—between him and Life Action Ministries.

Life Action claims to be a ministry that holds “revival” conferences at different churches. According their schedule, it appears to be all Southern Baptist churches. From their website page, “Awaken your heart,” they say:

As a ministry, our desire is to see the hearts of God’s people awakened and revived! Incredibly, God wants us to experience revival even more than we desire it for ourselves. He has even given us a road map to follow. We pray that these resources will help you discover and travel the pathways that lead to God’s heart.

Now, who wouldn’t want to discover the “pathways” that lead to God’s heart. First and foremost, besides the entire new age theme of their website, the plural word “pathways” insinuates that there is more than one way to God. Do you see the problem here? Is there another pathway to God apart from Jesus Christ? They also teach a method of contemplative prayer, involving being quiet, waiting, sitting still, and listening for that “still quiet voice” of God to give you a specific revelation. They also teach that forgiving someone entails no longer desiring righteous justice or discipline against that person. Another workbook on their website, entitled Draw a Circle, is strikingly similar to Mark Batterson’s Circle Maker witchcraft heresy that Floyd endorses. Their promo video for this prayer teaching involves a young man, who has a piece of chalk that keeps “magically” appearing on his Bible. He ultimately ends up reading Hosea 10:12-13 and somehow he gets the idea from these verses that he should be drawing circles around himself, and praying. In this workbook, they say:

It’s a challenge OneCry is issuing to men, women, teens, and even children…It involves a simple piece of chalk. With this piece of chalk, we kneel to draw a circle around ourselves and then look to heaven expectantly, praying, “Lord God, send revival, and begin it right here in this circle!”

Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Radio Host of Revive Our Hearts women’s outreach ministry of Life Action, also endorses these chalk circles. She is known for associating with other contemplative mystics, including Richard Foster and Dallas Willard.

Ronnie Floyd has worked extensively with this ministry in the past. At the 2013 Annual SBC Conference, he partnered with them at a lunch meeting to discuss the subject of “spiritual revival.” He asked his audience on his blog before the meeting:

Tuesday at noon: Life Action Ministries has asked me to join three other spiritual leaders over a major lunch meeting to talk about the subject of Spiritual Revival. I look forward to this engaging luncheon as hundreds of Pastors will gather for discussion around this theme. Pray for a mighty visitation from God.

Notice, he didn’t say he was joining three other “Christian” leaders, he said “spiritual” leaders. Life Action Ministries’ theme appears to be this “spiritual” awakening, a new age, contemplative type of awakening, or a mystic type of relationship with God. They also endorse a type of theology, known as Keswick theology, in which they believe that there are two types of Christians, carnal and sanctified. They believe that the “carnal Christian” needs to be spiritually awakened, and work themselves into a sanctified state. This is remarkably similar to the new age though of awakening your “inner-self” to a higher state of consciousness, and becoming “one with God.” LAM also stands on the notion that somehow Satan can takeover the hearts and minds of those who are saved.

The first and worst cause of error that prevails in our day is spiritual pride. This is the main door by which the devil comes into the hearts of those who are zealous for the advancement of Christ. It is the chief inlet of smoke from the bottomless pit to darken the mind and mislead the judgment, and the main handle by which Satan takes hold of Christians to hinder a work of God. Until this disease is cured, medicines are applied in vain to heal all other diseases.

Ronnie Floyd’s way of thinking appears to be very similar to this group. He believes that churches are filled with lukewarm, complacent “Christians,” who are more interested in being promoted in the workplace than evangelizing the lost. While this is very true that our churches are filled with these types of people, the truth of the matter is that these people filling the pews aren’t Christians. Carnal Christianity is not Christianity, it’s false conversion. Generally speaking, people who have been influenced by Keswick theology may have a testimony like, “I was saved when I was 15, but I surrendered my life to Christ when I was 23.” They tend to believe that human free-will is ultimately and separately responsible for starting and stopping the sanctification process. In an interview with Randy Hekman of Life Action, Ronnie Floyd was asked:

You have put out a clarion call to Southern Baptist pastors and members around the nation for a Great Awakening. How are people responding to this call?

And he responded:

…there was real resolve and commitment and understanding that our greatest need is a mighty move of God in this country…We need to strategize and get after reaching the world. The reason we want revival to come to the church, and for the country to be awakened spiritually, is so we can complete the Great Commission…We need fresh power to do that. We need American Christianity to wake up from sleep and get with it to reach the world with the gospel…[we must be committed to] the revival of religion and the advancement of Christ’s kingdom on this earth.

There is no mention of purifying the church of false converts or bad theology, or exposing the evil within the church. As most new-agers, Floyd doesn’t believe this exists. What the Bible would describe as a false convert, it appears Floyd would just rationalize them as “less sanctified,” and that they would need to become “more sanctified” by making a decision to wake up spiritually.

OneCry, a branch of Life Action ministries regularly praises Floyd for his advancement of “Spiritual Awakening.” On January 19, they tweeted:

Every Christian, Pastor, & leader in all denominations should read this bold manifesto from SBC Pres. @ronniefloyd http://t.co/Lrr77WD6mZ
— OneCry (@OneCry) January 19, 2015

I believe that the SBC’s association with this group is spiritually dangerous, but it appears to be the direction that this once great denomination is now heading. This slide toward the New Age is nothing new. Ronnie Floyd has prophesied a “Great Awakening,” but the Bible predicts a “Great Apostasy.” Who are we supposed to stand behind? We should always be praying for the salvation of souls, but should we be praying for something unbiblical? Should we be praying for something to happen when what the Bible predicts will happen, and must happen for the return of Christ, is already happening? Shouldn’t we be praying for purification of the Church, salvation for the lost, and Christ’s return to be quickened? Instead, it seems that the SBC wants to delve deeper into contemplative prayer, witchcraft and ecumenism.

More Information

• Will the SBC officially announce their Apostasy at the 2015 Annual Conference?
• Apprising Ministries – Nancy DeMoss turns listeners to Richard Foster
• Sola Sisters – Nancy DeMoss endorcing Chalk Circles? Mercy!
• The Velvet Covered Brick – Prayer Circles

**Note This article is a follow-up of an article I wrote on Russell Moore and advancing a socialist agenda within the Church. It is not my intention to call into question the personal salvation of anyone in this article, nor to promote any conspiracy theory, but to simply expose the facts as I see them, and to attempt to conclude their effects on the Church. 

It is no doubt that Russell Moore has worked his way up to the top of the largest Protestant denomination in the world, only to promote ecumenism, and UN friendly ideas through the use of his position within the Church. But there is more to it. The Ethics and Religious Liberties Commission as a whole is nothing more than a branch of the United Nations, that is now intertwined with the Southern Baptist Convention, to bring about a change of thought and influence among church-goers.

The ERLC is listed as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) within the United Nations. You might not think this is a big deal, but according to ECOSOC Resolution 1996/31, there is a certain set of criteria that the NGO must meet in order to be granted this status, including:

The former President of the ERLC, the same man that unabashedly spent SBC money to build Muslim mosques around the country as part of the Anti-Defamation league’s interfaith coalition, Dr. Richard Land’s book, “Imagine! A God Blessed America,” he portrays Christians as “radical change agents” who are “committed to the common good.” We all know that the phrase “common good” is a buzz word for Communitarianism. Richard Land, along with emergent pastor Rick Warren, is also a member of the Fabian Socialist Council on Foreign Relations. In a New York Times article, Richard Land is quoted as saying:

I’ve had some older conservative leaders say: ‘Richard, stop this. You’re going to split the conservative coalition,’

Dr. Land continued.

I say it might split the old conservative coalition, but it won’t split the new one. And if the new one is going to be a governing coalition, it’s going to have to have a lot of Hispanics in it. And you don’t get a lot of Hispanics in your coalition by engaging in anti-Hispanic anti-immigration rhetoric.

In other words, he wants to trade the old conservative coalition for a new, pro-socialist, pro-democratic “conservative” coalition. While he may seem to be interested in maintaining a “moral majority,” he doesn’t mind doing it at the expense of turning conservatives more moderate or liberal in fiscal policies, which ultimately undermine morality, and he has used his evangelical leadership at the ERLC to do so. So was he successful? Was his retirement from the ERLC a smokescreen for change?

Then there’s Al Mohler, a founding fellow of the ERLC’s Research Institute, and also Vice Chairman of the ecumenical radio program, and UN NGO Focus on the Family. Al Mohler agrees with Communitarian activist, Jane Jacobs in an article he writes in 2006, that “genuine community” is being destroyed by the construction of “elevated freeways.” Jacobs was funded by the globalist organization, the Rockefeller Foundation. Communitarianism naturally results in restrictive laws, such as laws prohibiting certain modes of travel, under the veneer of pollution control. Mohler, being a regular traveler of these “elevated freeways,” must consider himself exempt, because of his elite status, from these travel restrictions he would like to see imposed on others for the “good of the community.”

The globalists have been attempting to co-opt the Church by infiltrating our seminaries. Dr. Mohler is the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. It is the largest seminary in the United States. The school is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools, an ecumenical organization that sets standards of accreditation to seminaries across a variety of denominational lines, including Catholic schools. The organization is also funded by the Rockefellers.

Mohler tends to spend much time associating with other religious groups, like Mormons, on the grounds of saving the country from the decline of moralism. Much like Rick Warren and other Fabian Socialists, Dr. Mohler knows that by influentially undermining the exclusivity of Jesus Christ they are eliminating one of the biggest threats to Marxism. While they speak of Biblical authority on one hand in high regards, their actions much of the time seem to coincide with the agenda of the United Nations. I’m not doubting that Dr. Mohler, as President of the largest seminary in the country, has had a positive, conservative influence on the SBC as a whole, but this tends to be how front organizations work. They tend to speak and act profusely one way, while subtly and/or secretly working on their agenda another way.

Enter Russell Moore. Russell Moore, Dr. Richard Land’s replacement, and current president of the ERLC, has been heavy handed when speaking on behalf of the SBC in matters of faith and public policy. He recently came out and said that Christian judges who disagree with the striking down of the same sex marriage ban by a federal judge in the state of Alabama should either uphold the law (affirming same sex marriage), or resign, despite the fact that the decision is against the state’s constitution. In other words, civil disobedience has no place among public servants, but it’s okay among regular citizens. He is basically saying that you can’t be both a Christian, and a public servant, and if you are a public servant, you must check your Christian beliefs at the door, or resign. He is in effect setting up a false dichotomy that can’t be found anywhere in Scripture, however, it seems to be perfectly compatible with his globalist agenda.

Globalism is often pushed under the guise of environmentalism, and the UN is one of the biggest players in the league. One of the top agendas of the United Nations is it’s Environmental Programme (UNEP). Russell Moore, again, as head of the ERLC which subscribes to the agenda of the United Nations, is also on board with their environmental program, which seeks to regulate and criminalize certain many environmental activities. Moore referred to his home town of Biloxi, MS as an “oil-drenched crime scene” during the accidental gulf oil spill of 2010. He shares some of the same ideas that the UN does when it comes to regulation of environmental activity through fines and fees–activity that by nature could only stifle the economic growth of developed countries, while benefiting only the undeveloped countries. In other words, he supports the redistribution of wealth from developed countries to poor countries–socialism, all while hiding behind the veil of conservative Christianity.

So how can these so-called leaders speak out against socialism, and take a conservative, Christian stance on social and fiscal issues, all while upholding, agreeing with, and promoting the UN’s agenda? Is the ERLC simply a front organization for the UN? Are these leaders nothing more than change agents infiltrating the Evangelical church for the purpose of leading believers into the acceptance of a New World Order?

To see how Russell Moore has used his position to advance socialism within the church, click here.

Remember the old days, where churches had steeples and stained glass windows. Remember when there were pews, and a choir that sang edifying hymns to our Lord? Remember those days when people wore suits and ties, and ladies wore dresses and heels, trying to present their best to our God? Remember those days when children used to go to Sunday school classes, and learn the Bible, and families went to service, and the pastor preached a sermon? “Well,” says Andy Stanley, “the greatest thing about all of this, is we don’t have to do that anymore,” he proclaims in his latest sermon, “Brand New.” Stanley is making it abundantly clear that he has no qualms about changes that are being made in today’s churches, and he’s proud of it.

“The things that are holding people back from coming to church are actually the things the church should be letting go of,” Stanley says. But what kind of things is he referring to? Could it be things like clear Biblical doctrine about salvation, sin, grace, etc? Could it be a pastoral teaching from the pulpit? Could it be edifying worship to our Lord and Savior? Just exactly what things is the church holding on to that’s “hindering growth,” according to Stanley?

He goes on to say that in his lifetime, he has never heard anyone say that the reason they don’t go to church is because they follow Jesus.

He goes on to say, “even if you never come to the conclusion that Jesus is the Son of God…or that Jesus is your savior…if you follow his teachings, you will have a better life.”

You can view the entire “sermon” here.

** UPDATE **

I just wanted to say, that while the majority of people are discerning, and they can easily see the bigger problem here, I have been getting a few nasty (personal) attacks, on Twitter and Facebook, and in comments on other’s blog sites, stating that I am taking his words out of context, and misrepresenting him. I’ve been likened to a “bitter old man” who wants followers more than the truth. I can assure you, that is far from the truth. I want to be abundantly clear that I do not believe these words are taken out of context. I have posted the link to the entire sermon for anyone to watch. I understand that there are those who actually agree with this seeker-friendly theology, and chances are, you will not be convinced. I pray for you folks. But for those who are on the fence, I invite you to study up on the seeker-friendly, seeker sensitive model of the church, and it’s grave dangers.

If you believe that church is for outsiders, you have a mistaken view on what the New Testament Church is. The Church, by definition, is the body of BELIEVERS. It is the local church’s job to equip the saints to go out into the world to make new disciples. If you are a follower of Christ, you are a member of the Church, and should be a member of a local NT church. However, the seeker-sensitive model of attracting a bunch of goats with Rock and Roll music, light shows, short sermons, and comfortable seats, into a “church” building and teaching them to follow Christ’s commandments so they could have a better life is not a church… it’s a social club, and a spiritually dangerous one at that.

Here are some links to more information on the seeker-sensitive movement.

GotQuestions? Should a Church Be Seeker Sensitive?

LetUsReason, The Seeker Friendly Church Model

John MacArthur: Seeker Friendly is the New Liberalism

A very spiritually discerning friend, and fellow blogger, Landon Chapman, posted an article on the Pulpit and Pen website entitled Christians Attack Their Own In the Name of Love: The Plight of Practicing Biblical Discernment. The purpose of the article was to basically outline the path he has taken from first having his eyes of discernment opened, and being overzealous, to where he is now, a more mature, humble follower of Christ. After posting a link to this article on on his Facebook page, one commenter, by the name of Chris Lyons (of CRN.info) had the following to say, and I will address it point by point.

Landon, this is one of those things where I really have to wonder if you have all that much self-awareness or an understanding of irony. Probably the best way to sum it up would be “Physician, heal thyself.” However, I know you are speaking from a place of pain (some real, some imagined), so self-reflection is hard, if not impossible.

First of all, Lyons is making an assumption here that Landon is speaking from a position of pain. Why is he assuming this? Is there something he knows about Landon’s past that could prove to be painful? Just what could this “place of pain” be? Could it be the deception, or the watered down Gospel he heard at his former Church in which Lyons is still a member of? Could this place of pain be Landon’s earnest, tireless desperation to get the true Gospel out to those who need to hear it, and expose the enemy of the Word of God. To expose those teachings that lead people to an even more painful place, a place of rejection and eternal separation from God?

Secondly, Landon clearly laid out in his article that he is examining himself, and his motives. Lyon’s appears to be taking the same liberal stance of “judge not,” while leaving the entire context of the totality of Scripture out of the argument. He cunningly does this by appealing to this assumed “place of pain,” while pleading to take on the role of caretaker here, and imagining himself to be the one thinking clearly and providing logic and reason to an otherwise out of control situation.

The biggest issue is that you assume your “discernment” is biblical, and your analysis reasonable. In your case, specifically, you’ve not really left the “cage stage” and you’ve eisegeted your own justification.

I don’t think Landon “assumes” anything. I think Landon is a cautious student of God’s Word, who only seeks to Glorify God. Yet Lyons is hypocritical in his assumption, since he provides no biblical reason of why Landon’s discernment is unbiblical. However, Lyons must be unfamiliar with passages such as Romans 16:17-18, Ephesians 5:11, Galatians 1:6-9, Colossians 2:8, Matthew 7:15, 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, 1 John 4:1, Jude 1:4, etc. etc. etc… or perhaps Lyons takes an allegorical hermeneutic approach to Scripture, and these passages don’t really apply to us today, or don’t really mean what they say. I’m just assuming.

In general, 99% or more of online “discernment” “ministries” (including, especially, P&P) are neither “discerning”, nor “ministries” (in the sense that they are doing anything of substance to further the kingdom of God). They have become tools to divide and attack the Body of Christ over non-primary issues.

I’m glad he is able to come up with these statistics on the fly like that. Wow, 99%, huh. Well Lyons, what exactly do you consider to be a primary issue? Lyons has a misunderstanding of what causes divisions in the Kingdom. It isn’t discerning individuals who stand up for the truth, it’s false teachers (Romans 16:17) According to Lyons website, his mission appears to be unity among professing Christians, and attacking people who he refers to as “discerners.” While the very premise of his argument is that “discerners,” like Landon, create divisions among believers by “attacking those whom are already saved,” he takes the hypocritical stance of reciprocating the attacks. Except, while Landon’s concern is people being led astray, fed a false Gospel that leads someone to Hell, Lyons is more concerned with people standing around holding hands and singing Kumbaya in their descent to Hell.

They mistake “state boundaries” (denominational differences) for “National boundaries” (differences between Christianity and non-Christianity). They mistake “lost sheep” for “goats” and pastors of other flocks as “wolves”. They, themselves, are cancers in the Body of Christ, much like the Judiazers in the Acts church (except now, secondary dogmas have replaced circumcision as the argument of choice).

But the concept that Lyons just can’t quite seem to grasp here is that simply because someone claims the name of Christ, doesn’t make them Christians. The Biblically exegeted definition of a Christian is someone who is saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Lyons doesn’t seem to be concerned that other sects, like Catholicism, or the Unification Church,  teach a gospel that is contrary to the Word of God, and lo and behold, if someone biblically-minded, like Landon warns people against these errors, then they are just “cancers in the church.” Lyons wants the “discerners” to ignore Ephesians 5:11, and instead, have fellowship with unbelievers, and ignore their grave errors.

They mistake simple homiletic devices for heresy (like with the recent unsubstantiated attacks on Andy Stanley’s current sermon series) and have absolutely no understanding of “charitable reading” (a la 1 Cor 13) when hearing something other than a rigid, Reformed exposition. They also mistake the differences, as do you, between people, personalities, and ideas, and seek to “warn” against and “condemn” people, rather than simply ideas.

“Homiletic devices” like teaching people to come to church and follow Christ’s teachings, even without knowing him as your Savior or as the Son of God, so you can have a better life? Why? Just so you can die and go to Hell afterwards? Perhaps Lyons doesn’t know that Christ’s teachings included him being the Son of God, and the Savior, and apart from him there is no life, but only weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 25:30).

As I said to you, submission isn’t submission if you only do it when you agree. And becoming a freelance “discerner” when you don’t have the agreement of your own leaders to be a “discerner” for others in your own church, smacks of arrogance, not any sort of “biblical discernment” – even if you are right!

First off, how does Lyons know what the leaders of Landon’s local church approve of or not? Has he forgotten that Landon left the heretical, man-pleasing, ear-tickling mega-church, Connection Pointe, to become a part of a bible-based, Gospel-centered church? A church that seeks to please God, rather than man? And, if any church, or local congregation is a true church, then Jesus Christ will be the supreme leader of that church, and the church’s authority will be the Word of God, in which Landon’s submission to is first and foremost.

Part of the problem, though, is within much of Western Christianity, where we have made the Gospel little more than a viral campaign for fire insurance to no earthly purpose. We decry pragmatism within the church, but we’ve taken the most pragmatic approach to the Kingdom of God by making it about “saving souls for heaven/from hell someday”, when the primary import is stated plainly at the beginning of the Lord’s Prayer: Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven.

This twisting of theology here just proves Lyon’s concern isn’t about the eternal salvation of souls, but with making the world a better place to live. Jesus says in Matthew 10:34, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” The Great Commission of the Church is to go out and make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20), by preaching the good news of Jesus Christ and his sacrificial atoning death on the Cross. These are the essentials, not unity among false converts and false teachers. Lyons is right that Lord’s prayer states the primary import of the Church, but Lyons clearly does not understand the passage he quoted. Does Lyons think that somehow there will be unbelievers in Heaven? God’s purpose does not include any unrighteousness in his kingdom, and the only way to be declared righteous is by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, by faith in his sacrificial death, and believing that he rose again to conquer death. You must believe the Gospel… the true Gospel, not a false Gospel, otherwise, you are building a false kingdom, on false premises, that lead to a false savior.

I realize you’re probably past the point of accepting any advice at this point I your life, but I believe, as do a lot of folks, that you have an incredible amount of potential and an enviable zeal that could be used for the good of the Kingdom, if you would only train your eyes on your own self for now, and leave the “wolf-detection” to the selected shepherds in your own local community, wherever that may be.

If only you could see that Landon’s eyes, by the grace of God, have been opened to the truth, he has now chosen a path of total submission to Christ and his Word. While God disciplines his believers reguarly, those who are not truly saved will ultimately be turned over to their own sinful desires. I would pray for you Chris Lyons, for you to examine your heart, in light of clear teaching of Scripture, through the entirety of Scripture, that you would see Jesus Christ for who he is. He is our holy and righteous judge, yet merciful enough to give his life for us on the cross, and if you don’t have the urgency to take this message of truth to all the ends of the world, then what are you in it for? This life is temporary. Eternal life is forever.

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. – 1 Corinthians 1:18

Have you ever sat and watched a sermon by a pastor like Steven Furtick, or Andy Stanley? Have you ever really just sat and listened to them preach. It’s easy to be drawn in to the charismatic mood changing, emotionally driven style of speech or worship. They quote from Scripture, and speak with such compassion that you wonder, how could someone so passionate about what they’re saying be so off? Someone that seems so dedicated to their teachings, so caring and so loving towards their congregations, how can they be so far removed from the truth? Does God actually allow teachers who are truly dedicated to him and his word to be raised up, undisciplined, and allowed to shepherd a flock of such magnitude, but without any accountability to his truth? Can a false teacher be saved, and just be wrong, or are these truly wolves in sheep’s clothing who are on their way to Hell?

Ever since the fall of God’s creation through Adam, man has been a slave to sin (Romans 5:12). Sin affects every aspect of our lives. It affects the way we think, the way we feel, and the way we perceive things, understand things, and communicate. It affects our desires and our motives and our purposes. Apart from Christ, we are inseparable from sin. Yet God has chosen to allow sin to flourish, without an immediate end to it. Instead of instantaneously stopping sin, he has chosen to redeem us through Christ, yet allowing sin to continue, while we suffer the temporal consequences of it. As a result of our sin, 1 Corinthians 2:14 says “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” Apart from God, man in his own state of sin will not, can not, accept the truth.

So why do so many false teachers seem to be so caring, passionate, and sincere?

One thing you will notice with false teachers, is that they always want to downplay the importance Scripture places on warning against false teachers. You may hear defenses like “The Bible doesn’t say a whole lot about false teachers, so we really shouldn’t be too concerned with it,” or “Christians need to stop bickering and judging each other, and just be more loving and Christ-like.” Some false teachers, like Beth Moore, will refer to their critics as “scoffers,” who are “stopping unity.” Christine Caine twists Scripture to make a point about an unbiblical form of unity. Steven Furtick (left) refers to them as “haters,” and says that they are afraid of change, or afraid of anything that is “new” and “different.” But they always make it sound like anyone that is against them, or their unbiblical teachings, are somehow working against God and his people. However, this common unifying trait among false teachers is necessary to be able to survive, and to even thrive within the visible church. They have to devalue the importance of biblical discernment while making it look like they are being more discerning by doing so. It’s trickery.

They must also maintain control and dominion over their congregations. If you remember the story of Jezebel, one of her characteristics was to maintain spiritual control over people. When she became queen, she eradicated all of God’s prophets, and replaced God’s altars with those of Baal (1 Kings 18:4, 13). But she didn’t just take control of people by force. She was cunningly deceptive. Her doctrine (1 Kings 21:1-29), cleverly penned The Jezebel Doctrine, is strikingly similar to what we know today as the Prosperity Gospel. This false  prophetess seduced her husband Ahab by only “prophesying” good things, and endorsing covetousness. Teachers and pastors who are seduced by these spirits maintain that they are 100% right, and can not be corrected.

These people can stand in front of crowds, and draw real emotional responses—tears. They appeal to the worldly senses of people, and carnal desires of their nature. Their impassioned speeches are often intertwined with a seemingly supernatural sense of urgency, co-opted with breathlessness, sweating, and even cracking voices that to the average person, seems surreal in nature. This person “must” be passionate about God, one thinks. But the Bible says that even Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). False teachers are very good at deception (Matthew 24:23–27), and have many tactics that they use to carry out their sinful desires (2 Peter 3:3), and more often than not, they don’t even realize they are false teachers, as they have been deceived themselves (2 Tim 3:13). The fact of the matter is, they are passionate about what they are saying, and they do, for the most part, believe it. They are in fact so passionate about it, that they will use whatever method they deem necessary to get you to believe it as well, and this most often involves evoking your emotions through deceitful tactics.

Can false teachers be saved?

First, I want to be clear, I’m not referring to the average preacher, or bible teacher, who sincerely has a desire to see people be saved, but has some minor doctrinal errors that don’t affect one’s salvation. I’m referring to those who deliberately and unrepentantly teach a message contrary to the Gospel of salvation by grace. Those teachers who, for example, would lead people into believing that they are saved, apart from Christ’s teachings. Like Beth Moore who leads Catholic’s into believing they are part of Christ’s church, or Steven Furtick, who leads people to believe they are saved when they pray a prayer or are spontaneously baptized. The Bible teaches that those teaching these doctrines are the enemy of the Gospel. 2 Peter 2:1 says:

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.

Scripture also teaches that those who are truly saved do not depart from the faith (1 Cor. 15:1-2). It seems to me that teaching a false teachings would be a departure from the faith. The Bible refers to saved people as “believers” (Acts 5:14; 1 Tim. 4:12). But if you are teaching and/or believing something contrary to the truth, how can you be a believer? This isn’t to say that a false teacher can’t ultimately repent and be saved, but you can’t be teaching a false Gospel while believing the true one. One of the attributes of a saved person is the act of God’s discipline on his children.

Hebrews 12:7-8 says:

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

God disciplines his children, his believers, just like we discipline our own children. We don’t generally go around disciplining other people’s children. As with God, he doesn’t go around disciplining those who are not adopted into his family through Christ. I’m not saying he doesn’t punish, but punishment and discipline are two different things. Discipline is to correct inappropriate behavior. False teachers generally do not correct our behavior, they generally breed more deception.

Punishment, on the other hand, is God’s wrath. God hates those who are contrary to his nature (Psalm 5:4-6; 11:5, Proverbs 6:16-19), and desires to take his wrath out on them. The Book of 1 Kings, Chapter 11, Solomon’s heart was turned against God, and God raised up an adversary against him. This was for the purpose of tearing Solomon’s kingdom away from him. So we know that God does raise up enemies, but this enemy was raised up for the purpose of God’s wrath. Do false teachers serve the purpose of God’s wrath? Does God raise up false teachers to serve his purpose of turning over the unrighteous to their sinful lusts and desires? I’ll leave it with this Scripture, Romans 1:18-31:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Once in a while, I’ll have a conversation with a pastor, usually a Southern Baptist pastor, who has read some of my articles, and find it puzzling that I would be calling out such leaders as Russell Moore or Ronnie Floyd. What I often notice however, is that while most of the time this pastor will be a very Gospel-focused pastor, and has no interest in leading their flock astray, is that many times they either have no idea what our leaders are involved in, or they have a weak or soft view on troubling issues such as ecumenism or heresies in the church, or an improper understanding of the purpose of the Protestant Reformation. I would like to address some of these misconceptions here that I am often faced with by critics of my point of view. In this article, I will be addressing some of the misconceptions as it applies to our leaders cozy-ing up with the papacy. I may address some other misconceptions in other articles, concerning other errors, such as mysticism, charismania, and word-faith heresies entering the SBC unchecked. This is in no way meant to be an offense against such pastors who are truly dedicated to God’s work, it is only meant to address criticisms that I regularly receive from those who may not have a full understanding of what’s at stake.

Misconception # 1: Russell Moore, Rick Warren, etc, going to the Vatican could be a good thing because they “may” be taking the Gospel to those who need it, and agreement on moral issues is a plus for the work of Christ. Agreement on moral issues doesn’t necessarily constitute endorsement.

Response # 1: The problem isn’t with our agreement on a moral truth, it’s with the fellowship aspect of our actions. Ephesians 5:11 says “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” The word translated as “fellowship” here in this context is the Greek word “sugkoinoneo.” According to Thayer, it primarly means “to become a partaker together with others,” and according to Strongs, “to share in company,” or “to co-participate.”

This is exactly what our leaders are doing. They are “co-participating” with a false church on spiritual endeavors. They are becoming “partakers” with the RC on moral issues, and the reason we are commanded NOT to do so is because it’s damaging to the Gospel. While we can stand on one side of the aisle, and say “I agree with the pope on the sanctity of marriage, I cannot stand with you on spiritual endeavors because we do not agree on the essentials.” We cannot be willing to compromise the Gospel by publicly taking a stance in which it seems we are in full communion with an apostate church. Being “salt and light” entails standing apart from the darkness, and exposing the darkness, not joining in, co-mingling with, having fellowship with, and praying darkness.

We should be evangelizing all Roman Catholics, and calling them to repentance, and to leave the RC church, yet instead, we have leaders of the SBC doing the following:

• Al Mohler declaring “there are millions of Christians in the Catholic church.” – source
• Russell Moore blogging: “I disagree with the primacy of the papacy, however, I agree with the pope on the Gospel, and other issues…” (paraphrased) – source
• Russell Moore – “I’m unsure of the differences between my and the pope’s gospel focus.” – more info
• Russell Moore tweets: “@pontifex is a very good choice for @Time person of the year.” – view tweet here
• Then we have Rick Warren tweeting:

This is not being salt and light, and standing apart from darkness, preserving the truth and exposing the error. This is ecumenism at it’s best. Ecumenism is today what the inquisition used to be. It’s an effort to unify the world’s religions under the authority of the pope, and unfortunately the SBC’s leadership is slowly taking us in that direction.

Misconception # 2: While I disagree with many of the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, I also disagree that the whole church is Apostate, and that there are many who are saved in the Catholic church.

Response # 2: The official doctrines of Rome are designed, by nature, to FORBID you from believing the true Gospel. Take for example the following quotes from the official doctrines of the Catholic Church:

“If anyone says the sinner is justified by faith alone, meaning that nothing else is required to cooperate in order to obtain the grace of justification, let him be anathema.” -Canon 9, Sixth Session, Council of Trent

The Catholic Church, “condemns with anathema those who say that indulgences are useless or that the Church does not have the power to grant them.” – Sacred Liturgy, Chapter IV, paragraph 8, Vatican Council II

By believing these doctrines, one cannot be saved, as they are diametrically opposed to the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

• Other damnable heresies of the Catholic church include, but are not limited to:
• The Catholic church is the one true church – CCC 2105
• Infallibility of the Catholic Church – CCC 2035
• Only the Roman Catholic Church has authority to interpret Scripture – CCC 100
• The Pope is the head of the church and has the authority of Christ – CCC 2034
• The Roman Catholic Church is necessary for salvation – CCC 846
• Sacred Tradition equal to scripture – CCC 82
• Forgiveness of sins, salvation, is by faith and works – CCC 2036
• “Moved by the Holy Spirit, we can merit for ourselves and for others all the graces needed to attain eternal life, as well as necessary temporal goods.” – CCC 2027
• Penance is necessary for salvation – CCC 980
• Purgatory a necessity for cleansing our sins – CCC 1031, CCC 1475
• The Communion elements become the actual body and blood of Christ – CCC 1374, CCC 1376

If someone is Roman Catholic, and they do end up coming to a saving faith in Jesus Christ, they will ultimately have no choice but to leave the Roman Catholic church, once they realize that what their church is teaching is contrary to the truth.

Misconception # 3: Luther and the reformers really didn’t believe that the Roman Catholic Church was a “false church.” They only sought to correct some of the errors that they saw in the church. They did not believe the RCC was apostate, and neither should we.

Response # 3: It is true, that Luther, who is widely held (yet debatable for another time) to be the originator of the “Protestant” Reformation originally only sought to bring to light what he viewed as error in his church. However, Luther is not the be-all-end-all of the reformation. He may not have used the exact term “false church,” but the sentiments were certainly there. Consider the following quotes from Luther and the reformers:

“We here are of the conviction that the papacy is the seat of the true and real Antichrist…personally I declare that I owe the Pope no other obedience than that to Antichrist.” – Martin Luther

“The oracles of God foretold the rising of an Antichrist in the Christian Church: and in the Pope of Rome, all the characteristics of that Antichrist are so marvelously answered that if any who read the Scriptures do not see it, there is a marvelous blindness upon them.” – Cotton Mather

“that tyranny which the pope himself has for so many ages exercised over the church” and that the pope should be recognized as “the very antichrist, and son of perdition, of whom Paul speaks.” (Taken from The Zurich Letters, pg. 199 by John Knox.)

John Wesley said of the papacy,

“He[the pope] is in an emphatical sense, the Man of Sin, as he increases all manner of sin above measure. And he is, too, properly styled the Son of Perdition, as he has caused the death of numberless multitudes, both of his opposers and followers… He it is…that exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped…claiming the highest power, and highest honour…claiming the prerogatives which belong to God alone.” –Antichrist and His Ten Kingdoms by John Wesley, pg. 110.

and consider the Westminster confession of faith:

CHAPTER XXV PARAGRAPH VI. There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ: nor can the Pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof; but is that Antichrist, that man of sin and son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the Church against Christ, and all that is called God.

One thing we have to remember is that the reformers were undoing thousands of years of false doctrine. Most had been raised and trained in the Catholic church, and it was a major deal for them to stand up against the pope, and the doctrines of Rome. Although most of the reformers were still flawed in much of their doctrine, the fact that they took a bold stance to seek the truth, and expose the error says much of them, and their character. They did not have several hundred years of expositional preaching, and biblical commentary, and established doctrine to help shape their understanding of biblical truths. They, for the most part, started from scratch, and even started with the process of translation. We owe it to these brave men, and to Jesus Christ who is in control of all things, not to work against the reformation, and concede to Rome, but to continue to stand against it, and expose their error. We should not tolerate our leaders today holding hands with the mother of apostates, we should be holding them accountable for doing so.

So I entered into conversation today with someone who refers to himself as a “gay Christian.” I asked him to explain what he thought Christianity was, and I got the typical response, “That’s very simple. Following the teachings of Christ, not other Christians.” Further into the conversation, he references himself as a “Progressive Christian,” and refers me to a meme from the Christian Left website (which is basically a cut and paste from Wikipedia) that states:

Progressive Christianity is a form of Christianity which is characterized by a willingness to question tradition, acceptance of human diversity, a strong emphasis on social justice and care for the poor and the oppressed, and environmental stewardship of the Earth. Progressive Christians have a deep belief in the centrality of the instruction to “love one another” (John 15:17) within the teaching of Jesus Christ. This leads to a focus on promoting values such as compassion, justice, mercy, tolerance, and working towards solving the societal problems of poverty, discrimination, and environmental issues.

In a nutshell, his version of “Christianity” is a focus on rationalizing sin, and being intolerant of those who he perceives to be intolerant of his sinful lifestyle. You see, the progressive Christian wants people to accept them for who they are, make them feel better about themselves. They hate it when people point out their sin to them, because they need to be propped up by others in the world, to feel loved, and since they don’t get that love and support from God or Christ himself, they depend on it from the world, and become very defensive or angry when someone breaks through that shield they have around them.

This false acceptance from the world, however, is a lie of the devil. Although some of the things that the progressives stand for appear to be good on the surface, underneath, they are just cleverly hidden deceptions, put out by lying spirits to lead you away from the truth. Satan knows that if he can seduce you away from the truth by appealing to your man-centered desires like loving and tolerating one another, living in harmony, and solving societal issues, then he can also lead you into believing bigger lies. Lies, for example, that you can continue to live your sinful lifestyle, since Jesus paid the price, and still go to heaven.

The argument tends to revolve around a misunderstanding of the Greatest Commandment in Matthew 22:36-40,

Jesus replied: “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

They take this commandment, and misapply to their own lives by leading themselves to believe that tolerance of sin, and loving God and each other, makes them safe in the eyes of God. They believe that “loving people” means not showing people their sin, or not making them “feel bad” about their lifestyle. And they believe that by doing this, they are following the teachings of Christ. But the fallacy is this; this is not the teaching of Christ. Christ never came to teach tolerance of sin, he came to preach repentance (Luke 3:13-5). He didn’t come to tell people that as long as they live in harmony, and accept one another for who they are, then everything will be fine. No, he came to bring a sword, not peace (Matthew 10:34). Progressives view Christians who stand on the Word of God as their authority as bigots, and as unloving people. But the truly unloving person is the one who doesn’t call for repentance. For without repentance, a turning from sin, moving from a state of loving and rationalizing sin to hating your sin, there is no forgiveness of sins, salvation (Luke 24:47). And if you don’t know you are a sinner, or you have rationalized your lifestyle to the extent of believing that it’s not sinful, you are deceiving yourself right into Hell. Without condemnation, there is no salvation (Luke 5:32). In other words, you must realize that you are a sinner, and if someone is trying to lead you to that realization, that understanding, you should thank them for being so loving and kind to you, enough to care about your eternity. But if you still just don’t get it, if you don’t hate your sin, then I’m sorry to tell you this, but you are not a Christian, you are not born again, and you are not in good standing with God.

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! – 2 Corinthians 7:10-11

The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 1

1 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,
2 Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;
3 It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,
4 That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.

The author of this book, Luke, a native of the Hellenistic city of Antioch, Syria, addresses this piece, as he does in his other work, The Acts of the Apostles, to the honorary Theophilus. The word, Theophilus, literally means “friend of God.” So he is basically addressing the Church, the body of believers in Christ Jesus. Luke is claiming here in verses 1 through 4 a divine inspiration, and an authority to address the believers, laying out certain doctrines and beliefs necessary as a basis for Christianity. Through this claim of perfect understanding since the beginning, as well as being an eyewitness, and minister of the word, this work stands as authoritative, in perfect unison with other Scriptures, as canonical in our Bibles. With this foundation, he can now claim that those who believe what he writes can know with certainty the things he presents throughout the rest of his Scripture.

5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
7 And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.
8 And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course,
9 According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.
10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.
11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.

Herod, known as Herod the Great, was the Roman king of the southern mountainous region of ancient Israel, known as Judea. During his reign, about 74 B.C. to 4 B.C., there was a priest and prophet (Luke 1:67-79) by the name of Zechariah, and his wife Elizabeth, who were in good favor with God. They had no children since Elisabeth was unable to have children, and yet, they were continuing to age. As someone who was committed to the Lord and loved the Lord, he must have wondered why he had never been blessed with a child at all, much less a son. Yet, Zechariah remained faithful to God.

As a priest, he had the opportunity to burn incense which represented God’s intercession when he went into the temple of the Lord, and while he did this, multitudes of people were praying. Then at that time, while he was in the temple, an angel of the Lord, bringing a Word of God (pre-incarnate Jesus) appeared to him. Sensing the presence the Lord Jesus Christ must have been a harrowing incident for a lowly priest. It was unusual for a father to receive a message announcing the birth of a child. For someone who was righteous, and blameless before the Lord, Zechariah was surely someone who knew Christ through his Word. So seeing this angel, later revealed as Gabriel, standing before him, he knew exactly who he represented, the Holy and Righteous God. The fear he must have felt would have been immense.  It would have made him feel so worthless, for he knew he was a sinner and deserving of God’s wrath. But God, with all his power, and might, and wrath, is also merciful, and graceful, and in his infinite wisdom, he pours out his mercy and grace on Zechariah and his wife, and answers their prayers. The angel tells him that his wife shall bear him a son, and his name shall be John. The mighty God has chosen Zechariah to be the father of John the Baptist.

Remaining faithful to God, even when there is doubt or no understanding, has more than benefits. Our trust should be placed fully in God and his purpose. We at times, as did Zechariah, probably have our doubts, but trusting in the Lord to provide, and aligning our will with His is key to a relationship with Christ. For without that trust, that He will provide what he has decided, in his perfect wisdom, what we need, then we cannot have that relationship with him.

14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.
15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.
16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.
17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

The Angel of the Lord, who we know has been sent to represent the pre-incarnate Jesus, is continuing to proclaim the Word of God. He is announcing the forerunner, the very one who will usher in the incarnate savior. It’s interesting to note here that the Angel is telling him that John would go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah. In Malachi 4:6 we have this prophecy; “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.” John would fulfill this prophecy in his baptism ministry of warning and repentance to the people of Israel.

Zechariah, the one receiving the prophecy, has already been introduced as a righteous man, in high favor with God. This symbolises that God’s plans for redemption are through righteousness and obedience to him, similarly to that of Noah and his family. The promise that their son, John, will also be righteous and filled with the Holy Spirit from the beginning must have been encouraging. As opposed to the Old Testament prophets who received the Spirit at some point later in life, God has chosen John to be filled since birth. The people of Israel who are hearing this prophecy are aware that this means something big is happening. John was spoken of by the great prophet Isaiah, as the one who cries out in the wilderness, who prepares the way for the Lord (Isaiah, 40:3). Wine and grape products were thought of to be a blessing in Old Testament days, a gift in moderation from the Lord that gladdens a man’s heart (Psalm 104:15, Proverbs 3:10). John’s denial of these blessings showed a special anointing, he was to be consecrated to God as a Nazirite for His purposes, to prepare the people for the greatest blessing of all time.

18 And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.
19 And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.
20 And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.
21 And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple.
22 And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless.
23 And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house.

Though Zechariah was a faithful and righteous man in the eyes of God, he was still human and shows it in verse 18. Expressing doubt, he questions the angel sincerity, expressing that he and his wife are aging. This is reminiscent of Abraham, laughing and doubting the sincerity of God when He appeared to him promising his wife, Sarah, would bear him a son (Genesis 17:17). Hastily, the angel responds to his unbelief by announcing his name and position; for his message was to be accepted as authoritative, direct from the throne of God. As a discipline for his unbelief, or moment of unfaithfulness, Gabriel proclaims to him that he will temporarily be unable to speak, or function in society until these things have come to pass. God uses these disciplines in our lives sometimes to allow us to reflect on our hearts, and to correct our behavior or unfaithfulness. When he came out of the temple, he was unable to express to the people what he had seen, for he was speechless.  He attempted to gesture out a message to them of what he had seen, but it is unclear how much of this message the people understood. However, the people knew that he had received a vision from Heaven and that it would be brought to pass. Zechariah then heads back to his home, still under the discipline of the Lord administered by the angel, and has time to consider what he had learned before his blessings will be brought to pass.

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Evangelical hipster, and the go-to boy when it comes to building the bridge between pop-culture and mainstream evangelicalism, Matt Chandler, is at it once again. While he is well known for dabbling in questionable theology, and promoting mysticism within the church without pushing the envelope far enough to make the good-ole-boys too uncomfortable, he’s not stopping short of once again encouraging his followers to slip into a state of mindless buff. In a recent Village Church podcast he discussed with the host, Josh Patterson, the applicability of the season of Lent in his congregation. While he says his church is not officially observing Lent, he does speak very positively of it, while putting out an official church publication guiding his congregation in the observance of the Catholic tradition. This is the typical double speak we’ve come to expect from Chandler, practicing and promoting questionable things while standing on his “safe place” of “not officially endorsing.”

While promoting on the podcast that Lent is a good way to think about laying some things aside, and focusing on the sacrifice and salvation of our Lord, Jesus, he fails to understand the true history of Lent, and larger ramifications of observing an unbiblical tradition in unison with a religion that is the enemy of the Gospel. He acknowledges the arguments against the practice, and states that the arguments just aren’t convincing enough for him to condemn the practice. According to Catholicism, Lent is observed in respect to the 40 days that Jesus spent in the wilderness fasting, however, there is no observance of Lent for several centuries after the crucifixion. Usually the observance of Lent is connected with giving up some kind of food, a television show, or some other bad habit for the 40 days before the Easter holiday. It is alleged that Lent is a form of self-denial, and a way to connect with the experience of self-denial that Jesus went through.

But there is absolutely no mention of a season of Lent in Scripture, and never were Christians or Jews commissioned to observe such a tradition. The true history of Lent can actually be traced back to the worship of the Babylonian goddess Ashtoreth, or Ishtar. Alexander Hislop, in his classic work, The Two Babylons, in the section entitled, Easter, explains the origin of the Lenten fast:

The forty days’ abstinence of Lent was directly borrowed from the worshippers of the Babylonian goddess. Such a Lent of forty days, “in the spring of the year,” is still observed by the Yezidis or Pagan Devil-worshippers of Koordistan, who have inherited it from their early masters, the Babylonians. Such a Lent of forty days was held in spring by the Pagan Mexicans, for thus we read in Humboldt, where he gives account of Mexican observances: “Three days after the vernal equinox…began a solemn fast of forty days in honour of the sun.” Such a Lent of forty days was observed in Egypt, as may be seen on consulting Wilkinson’s Egyptians. This Egyptian Lent of forty days, we are informed by Landseer, in his Sabean Researches, was held expressly in commemoration of Adonis or Osiris, the great mediatorial god.

Hislop also states:

Among the Pagans this Lent seems to have been an indispensible preliminary to the great annual festival in commemoration of the death and resurrection of Tammuz, which was celebrated by alternate weeping and rejoicing, and which, in many countries, was considerably later than the Christian festival, being observed in Palestine and Assyria in June, therefore called the ‘month of Tammuz;’ in Egypt, about the middle of May, and in Britain, some time in April. To conciliate the Pagans to nominal Christianity, Rome, pursuing its usual policy, took measures to get the Christian and Pagan festivals amalgamated, and, by a complicated but skillful adjustment of the calendar, it was found no difficult matter, in general, to get Paganism and Christianity — now far sunk in idolatry — in this as in so many other things, to shake hands.

It is no doubt that Rome is a melting pot for world religions, and still is today. It is well known for mixing Pagan idolatry, observed through the veneration of the saints and Mary, with a Christian theme. However, there is no saving Gospel within the doctrines of Romanism. Rome, since ancient times has been nothing more than a religio-political system with the aim of world domination through whatever means necessary, be it politics, violence, or total control of your soul through religion. It is no different now, and Rome’s agents are working hard to blur the lines of mainstream Evangelicalism with Catholicism.

While listening to Chandler’s podcast, and his reasoning on the subject, on the surface it seems that his motives for doing so are benign. He takes the stance that the observance of Lent can be good if done so with Scriptural motives, and prayer and fasting are almost always considered worthy undertakings in Scripture. However, Scripture never calls for a public or corporate form of fasting, and those who fast are supposed to look and act as though they are not (Matthew 16:16-18). However, this observance of fasting during the season of Lent has become a commercialized mockery of biblical fasting, with people plastering advertisements all over social media of what they are “giving up for Lent,” and “how hard it is” to do so.

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Traditionally, the celebration of Lent is more than just fasting and prayer. In Catholicism, there are a number of mystical aspects that also are at play. During this Catholic season, a mystical custom known as The Stations of the Cross are practiced. It’s a method of going through a series of artistic representations of the steps Jesus took while carrying his cross to his crucifixion. The idea behind the practice is that through these artistic representations, often un-biblical, one’s emotions are supposed to be evoked to the point of sorrow, and identification with Christ. However, this practice is condemned in Scripture. Sadly, many Evangelical churches, including Rick Warren’s Saddleback, are adopting a form of this practice today, further muddying the waters between Catholicism and Christianity.

I also find it rather interesting that Chandler’s Lent guide put out by his church is filled with Puritan prayers from the Valley of Vision. Considering it was the Puritans stance to abstain from man-made traditions such as Lent, I find it highly suspect that Chandler would use these as a means to observe. It’s not that the substance of the guide itself is merely unscriptural, in many ways it is perfectly fine, and would otherwise be a great devotional, but the bigger issue here is the attempt to connect Catholicism with Biblical Christianity through this tradition. The Protestant reformation was based on the view that the Roman Catholic church was apostate, and that Biblical Christianity should stand apart from, and distinct from the Pagan traditions of Rome. However, Chandler, (and he’s not the only one) seem to have lost their grasp on this highly important historical concept, and without second thought, are helping to reverse the Reformation.

For more information on why Protestants shouldn’t observe Lent, see Entreating Favor’s article: Five Reasons Not To Observe Lent

**UPDATE**
For those of you who are having a hard time grasping the point of this posting, many of you are emailing, tweeting, commenting, etc asking my what my problem is with how the nature of how Chandler or Protestants in general are observing Lent. Please do not email me with this question, as I have already addressed, it isn’t necessarily the substance of Chandler’s guide, or the nature of how someone who is Biblically focused “might” observe the Lenten season as much as it is the ecumenical nature of promoting the event. The problem herein lies that by publicly condoning a traditionally Catholic event, especially one that has no Biblical basis for observing, puts out the perception that Evangelicals and Catholics are growing closer, coming together, and joining together in the same types of worship. But this is far from the truth. As subtle as it may be, it’s just another example of Evangelicals capitulating to Rome. Soon, it will be okay for Protestants to have statues of Mary around their campuses, “so long as they don’t bow down or worship it.” Protestants and Evangelicals are slowly moving away from, and beginning to defy “Sola Scriptura,” and this is a serious problem. People will come up with any excuse that they can to defend something that pleases them, rather than stand on the Word of God as their absolute authority. I don’t have a problem with the substance of Chandler’s guide, I have a problem with what it represents.

Being a Christian is by far the greatest blessing one could receive. Who can reject the glory of God, and the awesome love and forgiveness that Jesus has to offer? Yet, sadly, there are many out there who have convinced themselves that they are Christians, when, unfortunately, they are not. I have put together a short list of signs that you can use to examine yourself, or someone else, to test whether or not you are truly in the faith. This is by far not an exhaustive list, nor is it meant to discourage true believers. Every Christian struggles with certain things, and some moreso than others. If you are a relatively new convert, expect to struggle more than the seasoned Christian who has been saved and serving God for 40 years. The fact is, you should be improving constantly in all of these areas. There may be ups and downs, but if you take a look at the last year of your life, and you see no improvement in any of these signs, I would suggest you start praying, and ask God to open your eyes, and reveal himself to you. I pray that this list be glorifying to God first and foremost, but also that it be edifying to those who take the time to read it.

Sign #1, Avoiding Persecution – There are many who claim to be believers and claim to know Christ as their Savior, and will even put on a good show of morality most of the time, but when proclaiming the name of Christ gets tough, they back down. This is not to say that a Christian will never have moments of weakness. We know from the Bible that even the great Apostle Peter denied Jesus three times (Matthew 26:34). But if you repeatedly find yourself retreating when when you are being persecuted, or purposely deny or hide your Christianity in order to avoid persecution altogether, you probably have no reason to believe you are saved.

³ …A sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. ⁵ Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, ⁶ but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. ⁷ Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. ⁸ Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ⁹ He who has ears, let him hear.

– Matthew 13:3-9

In the above passage, the Parable of the sower, Jesus speaks of those seeds that did not fall on good ground—they have no roots, or foundation. Since they don’t have this good soil where they have been able to establish healthy roots, the intense heat of the sun just drys them up, and they wither away. This is what happens to professing Christians when they have no foundation to stand on. When they aren’t grounded in true saving faith, they tend to wither away when they face opposition. They won’t stand up for what they believe in, because they don’t really believe it. Matthew 10:32-33 says “32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” If you don’t see yourself facing persecution, and standing your ground, or at least trying to stand your ground, you very well may be a false convert. If you find yourself resorting to acting like a carnal man when around other non-Christians in order to “fit in,” you may want to examine your heart to see if you are truly saved.

Sign #2, Constant Worry – This one seems to be one of the biggest problems among professing Christians. There are some who have a preoccupation with worry, especially about worldly things like food, clothing and money.

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? ²⁸ And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹ yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹ Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

³⁴ “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

God promises us he will provide us with everything we need. If you find yourself constantly worrying about making ends meet, or you are incontent with what you have been provided with, this is evidence that you are not putting your trust in God’s promises. Faith is the key requirement for salvation, for without faith, one cannot be saved (Eph 2:8-9). Luke 8:13 says the false convert will receive the Word with joy, but the joy will be short lived. You will eventually fall back to your state of worry and unfaithfulness. If you are perpetually worried about these things, then you are relying on your self, rather than God, and you might be a false convert.

Sign #3, Unfruitful Relationships – Another sign that you or someone else may be a false convert is having little or no desire to develop friendships with other believers. When you are truly converted, and your desires are aligned with the will of God, you will long for friends that will lift you up in your walk with Christ, as well as hold you accountable (Ecc 4:9-12, Proverbs 27:9). Moreover, James 4:4 says “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” A true Christian wants to develop relationships that honor God. This does not necessarily mean that we can’t know and befriend any non-Christians at all, in fact we are required to do so for the sake of sharing the Gospel. But that’s the key, our priority with non-Christian friends should be sharing the Gospel with them. The Bible also says “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14) Taking any friendship with non-Christians to the level of partnership, or fellowship, is forbidden in Scripture. Yes, it’s understood that you have obligations with family members, and you are required to be close to them, but again, your priority with them as a Christian should be showing them the love of Christ. So if you find yourself putting off invitations to hang out with people in your Sunday School class because they make you feel uncomfortable, or if you find yourself more content with hanging out with non-Christian buddies from work, yet no desire to develop deep relationships with Christians, you might be a false convert.

Sign #4, Self Indulgence – Many Christians struggle with sin after they are saved. Bad habits are hard to break, even for the most faithful of believers. Some people may have smoking addictions, some people might curse. Some people may have a certain affinity towards self gratification, indulging in things like unhealthy amounts of television, sports, entertainment, etc. Whatever the sin is, the true Christian will struggle with this. This is one of the tougher areas for the Christian to attack, because it takes an ongoing, conscious effort to break habits. However, one sign that you are at true convert is if you are actually struggling with this activity. If you are a true Christian, your desire is to be obedient to Christ, and to become more Christ-like (1 John 2:6). As a Christian, you now represent Christ, and it is no longer you who lives, but Christ who lives in you (Galatians 2:20). You now live by faith, fending off your sins and worldly desires. This is not to say that you won’t sin, or fall, but if you find yourself never struggling with your sin, never feeling any Godly sorrow for your sin, perhaps you need to rethink your standing in Christ. Christ gives you a new heart when you are saved, and removes your heart of stone (Ezekiel 36:26). If you’re always too busy to spend time in the Word of God, you might not be saved. If you’re putting off your relationship with Christ, skipping church, not reading your Bible, and not ministering to your family, yet you are watching football, you curse at work around your buddies, you find yourself angry and unforgiving often, and you feel no Godly remorse, you very well may be a false convert.

Sign #5, Pride – Probably the biggest tell-tale sign of a false convert is pride. Pride is the root of all of the other signs of a false convert. Proverbs 16:5 says “Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished.” Arrogance is Satan’s number one tool to stop you from believing the Gospel, it stands in direct opposition to any form of repentance, and anyone who is proud cannot be saved.

However, there are many proud who profess to be Christians. They run around naming the name of Christ, might have Christian bumper stickers on their cars, and they may even try to share the Gospel with others, but if you try to rebuke this person, or call this person out regarding their sin, they will reject you. They absolutely cannot stand to be told that they are wrong about something. They will mock you, and argue with you, and never accept responsibility for their wrongdoings. Proverbs 9:8 says “Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you.” The scoffer, or mocker, will not be corrected, but one of the marks of being saved is someone who is humble and open to reproof. James 4:6 says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Those who are humble in spirit are repentant, and receive God’s grace. If you always have an argumentative heart towards correction and reproof, and you are unable to hear when someone is confronting you about sin in your life, you very well may be a false convert. I’ll end with the following two passages addressing pride:

“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

– Luke 18:10-14

“When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

– Luke 14:8-11

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• Why parables?

²⁴ And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,
²⁵ Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.

This should be an examples to us, that despite Zechariah’s unfaithfulness, the Lord’s will will be accomplished. Elizabeth went on to conceive the child promised by the Angel of the Lord, Gabriel. The text says that after she became pregnant, she went into hiding for 5 months, however, it is unclear why she did this. It could simply be because of the stress of pregnancy itself, due to her advanced age. However, we do know that she praised and thanked the Lord for removing her barrenness, and taking away her embarrassment among other people. This example of the foretelling of the birth of John sets the stage, and example, for the foretelling of the birth of Jesus, the Savior.

²⁶ And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
²⁷ To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
²⁸ And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
²⁹ And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
³⁰ And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
³¹ And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.
³² He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
³³ And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

Six months after John was conceived, the same Angel that came to Zechariah, came to the city of Nazareth, in the country of Galilee. Unlike the event with Zechariah in the temple, however, the Lord chose an average virgin girl, and had his message delivered directly to her alone. This blessed, and elect girl was named Mary, and was married to a man named Joseph who was of the lineage of David, as promised in 2 Samuel 7:12-16. Some have argued that the prophecy failed since Jesus was not conceived by Joseph himself. Although Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, by law, since Joseph took Mary as his wife, he also claimed Jesus as is his son, and was more than just a stepfather, but legally, his father. Adopted children, in the eyes of God, are no different than biological children. We, as Christians, are adopted sons and daughters of God himself, and we receive the full benefits as heirs of the Kingdom. Conception by the Holy Spirit was necessary for Jesus to be fully God, yet fully man by being born of the virgin Mary. This is a glorious example of God working all things out for good.

Mary, however, was startled by the appearing of this Angel. She had probably never seen or heard of such an appearing before, and someone as mighty and powerful as the Angel Gabriel walking up to her in seclusion and telling her these seemingly odd things would have been a harrowing experience. The Angel however recognized her fear, and calmed her, and assured her that the Lord God favored her over other women, and she had nothing to be afraid of. He explained to her that she would bear the Son of God, and that His name would be Jesus. He went on to explain to her who exactly Jesus was, and how significant of a responsibility she had been chosen to endure. She would be hosting the Savior of the World in her womb.

³⁴ Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
³⁵ And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
³⁶ And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.
³⁷ For with God nothing shall be impossible.
³⁸ And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

Similarly to the event with Zechariah, Mary questions the Angel in a bout of unfaithfulness. She doesn’t understand how she could become pregnant if she’s never had intercourse with a man, and seems genuinely concerned. However, Mary was just a regular girl, not holding a high position in the priesthood as did Zechariah and her questioning the Angel appears to be more out of fear, than that of laughter and mockery. The Angel responds to Mary in a more comforting manner, explaining to her the mode of conception, via the Holy Spirit. He also explained to her what happened with her cousin Elizabeth, who was bearing Jesus’ forerunner. This would have been a comfort to her to know that she had family close to her that was to go through this with her, but to also know that God is faithful, even when we aren’t, and that there will be nothing to stop God’s will from being done. Mary then goes on to acknowledge herself as the servant of the Lord, and the Angel left.

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Ronnie Floyd, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, has named the 2015 Committee on Committees. This is the committee that is responsible for actually nominating the two people of their respective states to serve as members of the Committee of Nominations, who, in turn, nominate trustees to serve on boards of the various entities of the SBC. It’s quite a drawn out process, and it seems that this announcement is rather insignificant—and it is, except for the fact that his choices are highly indicative of the state of our denomination. Besides the usual race pandering you’ve come to expect from our leadership, the committee choices named are highly suspect. The two pastors chosen to lead this Committee on Committees is Dr. Bryan Smith, Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Roanoke, Virginia, and Dr. Alex Himaya, Senior Pastor of theChurch.at in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Last year, Dr. Bryan Smith delivered the opening prayer for the U.S. House of Representatives on 4/2/2014. Listen to the prayer in the video clip below. The prayer is very ecumenical, unbiblical, and never once does he name the name of Jesus Christ. He could have been praying to Allah for all we know. I’m not suggesting that Dr. Smith isn’t a Christian, or doesn’t believe in Christ, but the point I’m trying to make here is that Smith was more than willing to compromise his role as pastor, and duty as a Christian, for the sake of ecumenism. In other words, he didn’t want to offend anyone by using Christ’s name. He made a complete mockery of prayer in front of our nation’s leaders simply to gain the notoriety of being there.

Dr. Alex Himaya, of thechurch.at, and previous youth pastor at a Crosschurch location that Floyd pastors, is also very questionable. He appears to be a highly charismatic, legalistic pastor who leads his congregations in prayers directly addressing Satan. He also recommends books by “Christian-witchcraft” teacher, Joseph Allbright. I highly recommend reading this article for more information on Dr. Himaya. It is due to a very sad state that the SBC is in right now that people like this can be elected or chosen to represent Christianity. But, of course, we could expect this from Floyd, since he himself is involved in witch-craft, and why wouldn’t he want like-minded people to follow in his footsteps?

Ronnie Floyd recently announced the members he has named to participate in the Committee of Committees, chosen to nominate the committee members who will actually do the nominating of leaders of various positions in the SBC for 2016. Sounds like a drawn out process, right? It is, and it begins with this committee of origin. As recently published on Pulpit and Pen’s web site, the SBC’s governing authority has managed to secure the procurement of their leadership of choice for as long as they like. It basically works like this; you make a name for yourself by having a large enough church to make some noise, you turn a blind eye to corruption in the SBC, and you blindly and unabashedly support those currently in leadership, while belittling and admonishing any critics. That’s how you get in. To stay in, the system is rigged so that the leadership gets to choose the next leaders, but by making it look like it’s a democratic system. But when you only have corrupt leaders nominating others who desire the same status and are willing to walk the walk and talk the talk, there is no room for change within the system.

Chosen as one of the two leaders of this committee is Dr. Alex Himaya, the founder and senior pastor of  the 5500 member mega-church theChurch.at in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Formerly, he was the youth pastor at Cross Church in Springdale, Arkansas, where his companion, Ronnie Floyd currently serves. Himaya is a rising star within the Southern Baptist Convention for a number of reasons, one being that he is credited for growing his congregation from just a couple hundred members, to over 5500 in just a few years. The focus on church-growth is by far the dominating factor if one is to gain notoriety and status within the SBC these days. Nevermind what message you preach from the pulpit, what set of beliefs you hold to, or what you stand on as your final authority for doctrine in your church, as long as you have a large enough crowd to stand in front of you and cheer, you can now hold a leadership position within the denomination. And that’s exactly what’s happening in front of us.

Dr. Himaya has a deep Egyptian heritage, and has a number of relatives still living in Egypt. His father, a Coptic, moved to the States where he met his mother and settled. While Himaya’s parents attend a Baptist church in Louisiana, his father apparently doesn’t understand the difference between the Coptic religion, and Christianity, as he still attends a Coptic church in Shreveport. And apparently neither does Dr. Himaya. In an article on his church blog he posted on Feb. 16, in reference to the beheading of 21 Coptics in Egypt, he states, “Christians from all over the world should stand with our brothers and sisters in Christ in light of this atrocity. These believers were innocent lives taken by one of the most brutal terror networks in world history.” So by referring to adherents to the apostate works-based Coptic religion as “brothers and sisters in Christ,” and “believers,” he seems to be insinuating that he believes their religion to be a valid expression of Christianity. Now someone with as much heritage in Egypt and the Coptic religion, I have no doubt that he knows exactly what Coptics believe. And as a Southern Baptist pastor, he should also know what the true Gospel is. But instead of taking this tragic opportunity to share the truth, he takes a weak ecumenical stance that appeals to the world, rather than glorifies God.

He seems to affirm this position in other statements he has made as well. Though I admittedly have not read it, nor do I have any interest in reading it, he has written a book titled Jesus Hates Religion. In a video promo he did on the book, set to a background of ear tickling emotionally driven music, he speaks of the necessity of the Church to get rid of what he calls “man made religion…put in place by denominations…and just preach the Gospel.” While there is some merit to be said about that, based on the aforementioned expressions he made about Coptics, I can’t help but think that he thinks the same way Andy Stanley does, about watering down doctrine, and just taking the social gospel to people.

In an article he wrote on Fox News, he tells a story about how he met someone on an airplane, and had a conversation about God and Christianity with this person, without revealing that he was a pastor. He went on to talk to this person for over an hour, and eventually told him who he was. From this experience, he gets that Christians have a reputation of turning people off from conversation about God, because they are “judgmental and religious.” He says:

The best way to stop a conversation short is by being judgmental and “religious.” By that, I mean we come off as confrontational and condemning, rather than relational and loving.

In other words, what he’s saying here is, and I loosely translate, “Rather than taking people the Gospel by exposing their sin, and calling them to repentance and faith alone in Christ alone, we should just love on them, and treat them, as we do the Coptics, like brothers and sisters.” What Himaya doesn’t seem to understand is that unless ones sins are exposed, their is no need for a savior. You can’t go up to someone, and tell them you love them, and tell them you think they are just a wonderful person, and the path you are on is just dandy, and expect them to come to a realization that they need to turn and repent. It doesn’t work that way. The natural man is turned off to the Gospel. The word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing (1 Cor. 1:18). But we must do it anyways, because to those who are being saved, it is the power of God. In other words, without it, you can’t be saved. But Himaya thinks that’s too judgemental, and we should take a softer approach.

As if his unwavering ecumenical stance wasn’t enough, he also seems to be caught up in a cult-like Derek Prince “curses and demons” spiritual warfare thought system. In the following video, Dr. Himaya leads his congregation in what he refers to as a prayer, but really more of a self declaration, on casting out and defeating Satan. At one point during the seance, he leads his congregation to speak directly to Satan.

“I now renounce all ancestral and genetic ties, back as many generations, on my dad’s side, on my mom’s side, as far as you need to go God,” he leads his congregation to repeat at one point. This generational demon casting nonsense is the typical drivel you come to expect from people like Derek Prince and the New Apostolic Reformation. Himaya appears to be closely associated with Peace in the House Ministries, who adhere to the same nonsense as Prince. PHM links to Dr. Himaya’s Spiritual warfare videos, as well as Joe Allbright’s, as their main source of resources for their demon-casting ministry. PHM’s explanation for their ministry is:

Peace in the House Ministry (PHM) is a Christ-centered, intensive prayer ministry designed to expose and remove both our iniquity and the iniquity of our ancestors from our lives. Iniquity is defined as a lifestyle, good or bad, that is outside the will of God. PHM is a sanctification tool to help Christians consistently walk with Jesus in freedom.

They base their ministry resources on the teachings of Himaya. That says a lot. Also, according to this excellent article by Johnny Ellis, he tells of a personal experience he and his family had attending Himaya’s church. According to Ellis, Himaya recommends a book by Joe Allbright called Liberating the Bruised, and points out a few of the questionable teachings of Allbright’s work. Among those teachings, and of great concern are the idea that Christians can have “multiple personalities,” that come about from traumatic experiences and that some of their “personalities” can be saved, while others aren’t. One must undergo a series of deliverance counseling in order to be “completely saved.” I highly recommend the article by Ellis for more information. I find it absolutely astounding that a Southern Baptist preacher can get away with promoting this type of material. And what is the fascination with circles among these people? We have more and more Southern Baptists and evangelicals heading this direction, but this seems to be the downhill slide we are going under our mystic president, Ronnie Floyd.

39 And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda;
40 And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.
41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:
42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.
45 And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.

After Mary’s startling encounter with the Angel, she departed Nazareth in a hurry to go find her cousin Elisabeth. She wouldn’t have just left in such a hurry for a casual visit, she must have felt a sense of urgency to verify the information regarding Elisabeth’s similar encounter that was just told to her by the Angel, as well as seeking comfort. Being that Elisabeth’s husband was a priest, this would have been the perfect refuge for her. Though the text does not explicitly say, according to the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, this city was most likely Hebron. Hebron (Kiriath-Arba) is where God instituted circumcision, and changed Abraham’s name to Abram (Gen. 13:18, 17:5, 17:9-14). Verse 45 suggests that it would be here, in Hebron, that Mary would actually conceive the child by the Holy Spirit.

After Mary made the journey, there was a very warm, embracing and joyful encounter between Elisabeth and Mary. The passage says that Elisabeth’s babe leaped in her womb when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, and the events of what had happened. Some have suggested that John knew Jesus from the womb because of the Holy Spirit, and was able to interpret what he is hearing, even from the womb. This is unlikely, what is more likely is this was a signal from the Holy Spirit, and a token of her extraordinary emotion, that what she was hearing and dealing with is very significant. The passage says that she was filled with the Holy Spirit. Being that Elisabeth was the older of the two, and the more collective and mature, she had by now come to terms with her encounter with the Angel. She was now in a position to where she could comfort Mary, and offer her guidance. She, still with great joy, announced how blessed Mary was among women.

46 And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
56 And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.

Mary responds to Elisabeth’s emotional and joyful welcome by praising the Lord. Coming to full terms and acknowledgement of what she no knows, she praises the Lord a presentation of the Gospel to come. She acknowledges her meekness and humbles herself before the Lord, and God’s choosing to use her despite her inability to do any of his work on her own. She acknowledges that these great things were of his doing, yet, there will be always be people for generations to come to consider her to be blessed, in which she is. She proclaims that the Lord’s mercy is for those who submit themselves to him, and that while he destroys pride and arrogance, he feeds the hungry and humble with good things–those that look to him. She states that the Lord has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy. This is that the Lord has promised a savior to Abraham and his descendants, and has followed through with his promise. The Lord is quick to keep his promise, and shall always follow through. Her encounter with her cousin was encouraging to say the least. It brought her peace, and focused her attention on to him who is to be glorified. She stayed 3 months, then returned home.

Next >> Chapter 1 Verse 57-66

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So many of us have family and friends who are suffering in some way. Perhaps a chronic illness such as cancer, or some other ailment has taken over the lives of people who were once vibrant, happy and well. Some may very well be suffering when we don’t know about it–struggling with internal depression or substance abuse. Whatever be the case, whether we live to a ripe old age relatively healthy, or pass away young due to unexpected circumstances, there is generally some level of suffering before death. And we all want to believe that when our loved ones pass away, their suffering has ceased. We want to believe they are in a better place now. This desire to believe this, however, has unfortunately set the stage for many false beliefs to become mainstream in our lives, and is rather poisonous to our souls.

One of the toughest pills to swallow for a “religious,” or “spiritual” person is the notion that a loved one may be in Hell. Even the strongest of believers have a hard time with this. It’s not always necessarily because one doesn’t believe the Scriptures, but as human beings, we all have moments of weakness. Even the great Apostle Peter had extreme moments of doubt and unbelief. During tough times, it’s natural for us to fall back on our own human reasoning and desires, rather than trust fully in God. We don’t want to believe that a loving God might send our son, or our brother, or our mother to Hell, because they were such a “good” person. I know people who have even taken to such extremes as contacting a psychic medium to try to confirm that their loved one is okay, and more often than not they are deceived into believing they have made contact, further validating their conclusions.

Much of what sets the foundations for this thinking is our own hearts. We choose to invalidate the Word of God by elevating our own worldly desires and our will above the authority of Scripture. Scripture, however, tells us that “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) The word translated here as “wicked” primarily means “sick” and “incurable.” Our hearts, our desires have an incurably sick concept of what is right, good, and just. While the Scriptures teach us that God alone is good (Mark 10:18, Romans 3:10), natural man has no perception of his own wickedness, and is unable to see himself as fallen.  Our hearts are so sick we can’t even know it ourselves. While sin is any transgression against the law or nature of God, in our modern culture sin has been redefined as anything that causes perceived or unwanted pain in one’s life. In other words, if it’s not hurting anyone else, there’s nothing wrong with it.

If a loved one commits suicide we may question, “why would God punish him for one mistake? After all, he was such a good person.” But is this true? The Bible says that we are all sinful, and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). We are lawbreakers–that is we break God’s laws, and just like every one else, the suicide victim is unrighteous (Romans 3:10). Anything that he has done that may be perceived as being good is still tainted by our sinful nature, and unacceptable in the eyes of God (Isaiah 64:6).

Jesus says in John 8:34 that anyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. A slave must be set free in order to have freedom, but without being set free from our sin, our wages are death (Romans 6:23). We are dead in our sins (Col 2:13, Eph 2:5). The Bible says we are all murderers, idolaters, immoral and faithless, and that our end is eternal fire (Revelations 21:8). Likewise, this is what our loved ones deserve as a transgressors of the law of our creator. They deserve to go to Hell, just like you and I deserve to go to Hell. We must understand that whatever standard of evaluation is used to determine the goodness of the passed loved one is infinitely short of our perfect, holy and righteous God’s standard. God’s standard is absolute perfection, and sadly, our loved ones, whether they are suicide victims, brothers, friends who were struggling with depression and substance abuse, do not meet that standard.

But all is not lost, there is good news. There was one who does meet that standard. There was one who walked the earth 2000 years ago, who committed no sin, yet took the punishment for our sin (2 Cor 5:21). He bore God’s wrath by fulfilling God’s infinite and perfect standard, yet still taking the punishment our transgressions. He has totally satisfied God. His name is Jesus. John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” We are able to partake in Jesus’ sacrifice through faith in him. But don’t breathe that sigh of relief just yet, because the Bible says that there are very few who enter into this life, and most reject this sacrifice while clinging to themselves (Matthew 7:13-14). Most people will choose the wide gate that leads to destruction. Jesus says unless you are born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3-5). You must die to yourself, and be reborn in Christ, you must be given a new spirit (Gal 2:20).
And this new spirit we receive through this new birth will show evidence of our changed nature (James 2:14, Eph 2:10, etc). As a believer, who is born again, there is no exceptions that we will begin to show evidence of our salvation through obedience to God, and to his Scriptures. Our desires change, we no longer have human worldly desires, but we begin to desire the things of God. This isn’t to say that it’s these good things we do that save us, it’s not. We are saved by grace, through faith (Eph 2:8-9). It’s a free gift. But, this free gift produces, with no exceptions, a change of heart, a repentance of sin toward God. And the fact is, if you don’t desire the things of God, you are not a Christian, you are not born again, and you will not see the Kingdom of God.

So, while it’s possible that our loved ones, who rebel against God, could have come to a saving faith shortly before passing away, it’s unlikely. So before we assume that our beloved grandmother, who was always there for us, or that loving dad who would do anything for his family, is now at peace in the glory of God, we must understand that as hard as it is to accept in God’s glory, and righteousness, eternity in Hell is the only option for those who reject Him. God is love, but God is also just.

Hell is an expression of God’s love and mercy. Yes, that’s right, you read that correctly. We must understand that Hell is glorifying to God, because of God’s mercy to those who hate him. God gives us a free will, and we can choose to freely love him, and fellowship with him through his Son Jesus Christ, or we can freely choose to reject him. God is not going to force you to love him, or fellowship with him for eternity if you have chosen to reject him. This is why Hell is merciful. While Hell is a place of eternal torment, totally cut off from all of God’s love, fellowship and blessing, it would be even worse on someone who hated God to be forced to partake in his Kingdom for eternity against his will. God will turn you over to your sin if you so desire. Hell also gives the believer a glimpse of the darkness and despair that he deserves, providing a contrast to the glory of God. Jonathan Edwards made this case, saying,

When the saints in glory, therefore, shall see the doleful state of the damned, how will this heighten their sense of the blessedness of their own state, so exceedingly different from it…They shall see the dreadful miseries of the damned, and consider that they deserved the same misery, and that it was sovereign grace, and nothing else, which made them so much to differ from the damned.

If you’ve softened your view on Hell simply because you can’t stand to bear the notion that your loved one may be there, please, let go of that belief. Understand that God is right, and just, and that they got not only what they deserved, but what they wanted. It would be unjust, and against his nature for God to make exceptions. If your loved one was not born again, reconciled to God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, then your loved one is spending eternity in Hell.

For a presentation of the Gospel, and how to be saved, please see this article.

57 Now Elisabeth’s full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son.
58 And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the Lord had shewed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her.
59 And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father.
60 And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John.
61 And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name.
62 And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called.
63 And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all.
64 And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God.
65 And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judaea.
66 And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him.

Assuming the average time to be with child is around 9 months, we can assume that Elisabeth gave birth to John very shortly after Mary left to go home. Perhaps within a few days, the text does not explicitly say. Some have even argued that Mary may have stayed until after the birth of John, but it is this author’s opinion that the chronological writing style of Luke in this passage doesn’t make this theory plausible. Assuming Mary was not there for the birth of John, Elisabeth’s other cousins, and neighbors, who had probably just recently heard of the news, came by to give her support. The text says that they “rejoiced” with her. They had heard about the wonderful mercy that God had on her. For she was an aging, barren woman, possibly in her eighties, who had never been able to have children. In the eyes of humans, she was finished, as she had passed her child bearing years. God had chosen to take an impossible situation and bring glory to his name through this miraculous event. For by doing so, this also lent credibility to Mary’s account. Mary, an ordinary girl around the age of thirteen, had an account with the Angel that would have been less believable, yet, by showing that God does perform conception miracles, and proving this through Elisabeth, this made Mary’s story more plausible. This news brought great joy to the family and friends surrounding Elisabeth.

Eight days after John was born, he was met with the usual Jewish tradition of circumcision. This was the same day that he received his son. Now you can imagine all of the hysteria, excitement and even arguing going around this small town. For a child had just been born to an elderly woman. Everybody wanted their say in the matter, and everyone wanted to be a part of this event. People began to call him Zechariah. Now, Zechariah, who was still under the curse of the angel, and had not been able to speak for at least nine months, was probably caught up in the middle of this, and just aching to be able to speak. The Angel had told him specifically that his wife will bear a son, and that his name shall be John. Fortunately, his wife remained faithful, and carried out the will of God by putting a stop to the name calling. Probably slightly annoyed, she shouts “Not So! His name shall be John.” Confused, the crowd did not understand why she would choose to name her son in a non-traditional manner, for John was not a family name, and certainly was not a name after her husband’s lineage. The crowd gestured to Zechariah, as it would ultimately be the father’s decision what the child’s name would be, and he wrote out on a table that his name would be John. Being that this naming of John fulfilled the Angel’s prophecy, the curse was lifted, as promised in verse 20. He was immediately able to speak again, and the first thing out of his mouth was a praise to God. As his faith had been restored to him by God. The unbelief he had showed during his encounter with the Angel had been stricken. This shows that God is the author of our faith, and when God chooses to reveal himself to us, and to provide us with faith, it is all his doing, not ours.

The news of this birth made it’s way all around the land, and brought a fear among people. As the seriousness of this event set in, concerns started being raised among people. People would have understood that the Scriptures prophesied this, and that God was beginning to move again among his people. Many probably began to get really serious about their faith, as many eyes were probably opened during this event. This is it, this is real–God is real. There was probably a massive resurgence in temple sacrifice attendance, and attention to the law. Though much of it was probably just as fake as it is in today’s times, there would have been a huge renewal of religiosity during this time. But ultimately, only those who persevere to the end shall be saved.

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