Category counterfeit christianity

Dec 22 2012

Is “Christianity Today” Christian?

I have tried to follow the magazine Christianity Today (CT), but every other time I read an article there it seems like it is written either from a secular standpoint or by someone who might not be a Christian.  Really nice image being portrayed by a so-called Christian magazine…

Case and point, the editors just came out with their 2012 CT Music Awards.  I love Christian music, so I was excited to see check out the top Christian artists of the year.  But the top 12 albums of the year include names like Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Rait, and Bob Dylan.

Most of the names there are secular with the blasphemous Springsteen leading the pack.  His famous concert tirades mocking Christians and mocking God are now being rewarded by CT with a top 12 status!  Reformed rapper Lecrae somehow made it at the bottom of the list. 🙂 This is the explanation for their choices:

“Our annual best albums list includes the usual mix of clearly Christian and “secular” music. The loosely defined criteria for making the cut is essentially this: The album should indicate some sort of spiritual search, a quest for life’s meaning. Sometimes the music comes from an orthodox Christian worldview, and sometimes not.”

It is no longer about a quest for the God revealed in the Bible… the Bible that Christians from Christianity Today should believe as God’s inerrant and infallible Word.  It is now about “some sort of spiritual search.”  Is Christianity now reduced to Universalism?

This is just a symptom of the counterfeit Christianity prevalent in CT.

CT’s stance on homosexuality is readily apparent by the large amount of articles with relatively friendly positions toward the gay agenda.  They frequently include topics on gay membership in church and ordination of gays in ministry.

They have previously endorsed a definition of marriage as that being between a man and a woman, but with lukewarm stipulations: “Far more than the protection of the legal definition of marriage, our society needs a fresh understanding of marriage.”  A fresh understanding? Really? I guess what Moses wrote in Genesis and what Paul and Peter write in the New Testament about marriage is too old fashion.

The Bible calls on believers to separate themselves from the world, because as Jesus said even though we are in the world we are “not of the world.”  We cannot follow CT’s example in endorsing positions that require us to have to serve two masters.  Since Dylan is on their top 12 list maybe they should listen to his song “Gotta Serve Somebody.”  Since Paul quotes a pagan poet in Acts 17, I will quote Dylan here to prove this point:

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody

The words of apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 6 ring truer then ever in this era when the church is increasingly mixing with the world:

“14…For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God”

I question if Christianity Today is really Christian.

Dec 9 2012

False Teaching Alert: Universalism Among Evangelicals

UNIVERSALIM:  definitions

1. the principles and practices of a liberal Christian denomination founded in the 18th century originally to uphold belief in universal salvation and now united with Unitarianism

2. a school of modern and post-modern “Christian” theology which includes the belief in the doctrine of universal reconciliation, the view that all human beings and all fallen creatures will ultimately be restored to right relationship with God in heaven.

3. emphasis on the “all religions lead to heaven” and acceptance of all religions in an inclusive manner, believing in a universal reconciliation between humanity and the divine.

Shane Hipps is the (former) co-pastor of Mars Hill Bible (Mega) Church in Grandville, Michigan.  He used to pastor that megachurch with famous author Rob Bell who wrote the book “Love Wins” where Bell questions the existence of hell.

I draw your attention to the following video which is a trailer for Hipps’ new book.

Pay close attention to the remarks made about Jesus as being the “wind” in the many sails of the wide religious landscape.  When he says that Jesus does not claim Christianity as His own, does he really mean that Gospel found in the Bible is not the only way to God?

Dec 4 2012

Judeo-Christian-Islamic Tri-Faith Project Becomes Reality in Omaha

Those who practice counterfeit Christianity are once again drawing our attention by their deeds… This time it is a grandiose structure being built in Omaha, Nebraska which will house a Jewish Temple, an Episcopalian Church, and a Mosque.  This is billed as an unprecedented project of collaboration between the three “Abrahamic” religions.

The local news is enthusiastically reporting that “a unique vision for religious unity in Omaha is quickly becoming reality.”  This is just another example how syncretism (the combination of various religious beliefs) and ecumenism (the push for unification of all Christian branches) are becoming more popular today in a world where the Word of God is being diluted by apostasy.

How quickly do our Jewish friends forget the message found in the Mosaic books, Isaiah and other prophets with regard to separating their faith from the idolatrous religions of ancient Canaan.  What do they hope to accomplish by coming together under the same roof with those practicing Islam or Chrislam?  To prove that religious tolerance is possible by diluting their own theology?  Or to form a new “Abrahamic” religion?

With respect to the Christian Episcopalians who are involved in this enterprise, I have to remind them that religious unification is an anti-christic prelude to the ultimate reign of the Anti-Christ, the son of perdition who will eventually unify global economical and spiritual domains under his reign.  They need to understand that they are practicing a brand of counterfeit Christianity if they accept that Allah is the same God revealed in the Bible, because Jesus said  “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

The religion of Islam does not recognize Jesus as God and it teaches salvation by works, two fundamental elements against biblical truth.  Moreover, many factions within Islam use their scriptures to incite violence against Christians and Jews.

Apostle Paul has a clear message in 2 Corinthians 6 for those Christians seeking to unite with other faiths:

“14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?”

We are commanded to love our neighbors and evangelize them, NOT to unite with them in apostasy!

Nov 27 2012

Rick Warren and His Purpose Driven Gospel

Pastor Rick Warren appearing on CBS show 'This Morning' on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012.

Saddleback pastor Rick Warren was on the “CBS This Morning” show to promote the re-release of his extremely successful book “A Purpose Driven Life.”  Apparently 20% of Americans have read his book since it came out in 2002, a record for any devotional or spiritual non-fiction book.

Charlie Rose and Nora O’Donnell, as expected asked the tough questions… but the answers given by the pastor were not anchored in biblical truth.  He gave sound answers on the topic of abortion, but I was deeply disappointed in the way he addressed the issue of homosexuality, gay marriage and most importantly… Jesus!

He was asked why he opposes gay marriage.  He invoked the concept of tolerance and stated about gay marriage that “it is not a big issue to me.”  In the capacity of a pastor whose primary goal is to represent the Bible accurately, he could have very well said that the Bible states that a homosexual relationship is forbidden and that is why he opposes it.  A plethora of biblical text could easily back up such a statement.

However, this was point in the interview where correct biblical doctrine went out the window.  The pastor went ahead to define and discuss tolerance, emphasizing how one can tolerate sin without agreeing with it, and brought Jesus into the discussion stating that “Jesus accepted everybody no matter who they were.”  Leaving this statement out there without following up on Jesus’ firm condemnation of sin is a gross misrepresentation of Jesus’ teaching.  This statement is the basis of a watered-down, cheap gospel of acceptance which has made its way into the Anglican, Episcopalian, Lutheran and some evangelical churches.

In fact, the way Warren worded his answers led the Christian Post to draw the following conclusion in their article about the CBS interview: “The California mega church pastor said that according to the Bible, people need to be tolerant of all views, just like Jesus was – but that does not mean approving of all choices.”  

Despite the not “approving” comment that followed, if after you invoke the Bible and the teaching of Jesus, reporters are left with the idea that Jesus was “tolerant of all views,” you have succeeded in proclaiming a false gospel.  As a pastor, one cannot alter the gospel message based on who is in the audience; it does not matter if the it is the liberal CBS audience or the Sunday morning church membership;  the Gospel must be proclaimed accurately especially when the prompt has to do with human depravity!

The Gospel is the good news that there still is room at the foot of the cross for salvation for all who repent… including Rick Warren.

Nov 19 2012

Life Begins at Conception NOT at First Breath!

In another example of apostatic theological interpretation, the prominent and progressive group “the Christian Left” has just used the Bible to endorse abortion in all its forms starting with elective first trimester curettage, all the way to the horrific partial birth abortions!  Unbelievable!  This is the counterfeit church practicing counterfeit christianity!

As if endorsing open homosexuality, gay marriage, ordination of gay ministers, legalization of drugs such as marijuana was not enough for their altar of idolatry, these so-called progressive christians had to endorse the modern-day Holocaust, the murderous spirit of Herod the Great and of Cain, known as abortion.

This is the theological basis of their false argument:  life begins with the first breath… therefore an unborn baby is not alive!  It is stunning to see how Satan has blinded these people.  Here is the Scripture they quote to support the position that life begins only after birth when the baby has the ability to breathe:

Genesis 2:7 “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and it was then that the man became a living being”

Job 33:4 “The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”

Ezekiel 37:5-6 “Thus says the Lord God to these bones:   Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.”

All these references are taken out their proper context and are twisted to say something that they do not say.   According to this position a baby who has a heartbeat, blood flowing through her veins, an intact neurological system that dictates pain, the ability to suck his thumb and comfort himself, etc…  is not alive!  During fetal surgery for spina bifida for example, the baby interacts with the surgeon squeezing his hand (see photo below), grabbing surgical instruments, and withdrawing from any painful stimulus before being anesthetized.  But according to the Christian Left and the Democratic party platform, this person is not alive.

Let’s review the biblical texts which confirm that life begins at conception:

Jer 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart”

Psalm 139:13 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”

Psalm 139:16 “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

Luke 1: 41, 44 “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit… … As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.”

Of all the horrors in the so-called “Romans 1 platform” of self worship and appeasement, I find abortion to be the most severe sin because it involves an innocent third-party who is murdered.  “It’s my body and I do whatever I want with it” has become the motto self idolatry.  They wear t-shirts with “I had an abortion and I do not regret it,” and “Someone you love had an abortion.”

How true rings the voice of the prophet Isaiah in 3:9: “they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them!”

Let’s face it, we live in days of apostasy, but the real church of Jesus needs to speak out publicly against groups like the Christian Left who pervert and suppress biblical truth, and exchange it for idolatry.

Wake up Church!  “Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong”. (1 Corinthians 16:13)

   

Nov 17 2012

How NOT to Have a Baptism!

Every once in a while it is appropriate to present a negative example in order to illustrate how not to do things.  This applies to our spiritual lives as well.

In the clip below we see the opposite of how a baptism should be done.  It serves as a reminder that there are “Christians” who practice a godless form of Christianity, who have no idea what things like baptism mean or what they stand for.

Ridiculous but actually…  funny.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=y_fFF50A53A