THE PATHOLOGY OF FALSE TEACHERS

by John MacArthur

Throughout history, deadly epidemics have ravaged mankind. In the fourteenth century, the infamous Black Death (an outbreak of bubonic plague) killed millions in Europe. Cholera, diphtheria, malaria, and other sicknesses have ravaged towns and cities. Our generation has witnessed the rapid spread of the fatal disease Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). More deadly than any of those diseases, however, is the plague of false teaching that has afflicted the church throughout its history. While illness may kill the body, false teaching damns the soul.

Like AIDS and the plague, false teaching has a definite, observable pathology—the elements of abnormality that characterize a disease. Scientists study the pathology of a disease to better equip themselves to recognize it and to combat it.

Every leader in the church should be a spiritual pathologist, able to discern deviations from spiritual health. Only then will he be equipped to diagnose the deadly disease of false teaching, and to do what is necessary to check its spread among his people. Paul warned of the subtle danger of satanic lies, describing their purveyors as

false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds. (2 Corinthians 11:13–15)

It takes careful discernment to see that the light is really darkness. Paul taught Timothy how to diagnose satanic darkness masquerading as divine light. Here’s how he described the key symptoms that identify those infected with the spiritual disease of false teaching:

If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. (1 Timothy 6:3-5)

The first symptom of false teachers is what they affirm. A false teacher “advocates a different doctrine.” False teaching may take many forms. It may deny God’s existence, or teach error about His nature and attributes. It may deny the Trinity. Error about Christ’s Person and work is also common in false systems. Those who deny His virgin birth, sinless perfection, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection, or future return show signs of a dangerous infection. False teachers also teach error about the nature, Person, and work of the Holy Spirit. Yet another strain of the disease of false teaching denies the authenticity, inspiration, authority, or inerrancy of Scripture.

At the same time, another mark of false teachers is what they deny. Their teaching not only affirms error, but also “does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Timothy 6:3). False teachers are not in agreement with spiritually wholesome and beneficial words. That believers need to pay attention to sound, healthy teaching is repeatedly emphasized in the Pastoral Epistles (cf. 1 Timothy 1:10; 2 Timothy 1:13; Titus 1:9;2:1).

False teachers are not committed to Scripture. They may speak of Jesus and the Father, but the heart of their ministry will not be the Word of God. They will either add to it, take away from it, interpret it in some heretical fashion, add other “revelations” to it, or deny it altogether.

A third symptom of false teachers is their rejection of “the doctrine conforming to godliness” (1 Timothy 6:3). The ultimate test of any teaching is whether it produces godliness. Teaching not based on Scripture will result in an unholy life. Instead of godliness, the loves of false teachers will be characterized by sin (cf. 2 Peter 2:10-22; Jude 4, 8-16).

The attitude of false teachers can be summed up in one word: pride. It takes an immense ego to place oneself as judge of the Bible. Such egotism blatantly usurps the place of God. “Conceited” (1 Timothy 6:4) is from tuphoō,and it implies arrogance, an inevitable mark of false teachers. To set up one’s own teaching as superior to the Word of God is the epitome of arrogance. False teachers have an overinflated sense of their own importance, not hesitating to rebel against God and His Word. That merely confirms, however, that they are infected with a deadly spiritual disease.

False teachers are also exposed through their mentality. Although a false teacher may be filled with pride over his supposed knowledge, Paul says that in reality “he . . . understands nothing” (1 Timothy 6:4). All of his imagined intelligence, pretended scholarship, and supposed deeper insights amounts to mere foolishness to God (Romans 1:22; 1 Corinthians 2:9–16). Lacking insight into spiritual truth, his wisdom “is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic” (James 3:15). Those who know and believe the Word of God have far more insight into spiritual reality than the most educated heretic.

Instead of focusing on the truth, false teachers have “a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words” (1 Timothy 6:4). They indulge in pseudointellectual theorizing rather than in productive study of and submission to God’s Word.

False teaching also fails in its inability to produce unity (1 Timothy 6:4-5). The word battles of false teachers result in chaos and confusion. “Envy” is the inward discontent with the advantages or popularity enjoyed by others. It results in “strife,” which often manifests itself in the “abusive language” of slander and insult. The net result of false teaching is “constant friction.” False teachers constantly rub each other the wrong way. That helps spread their spiritual disease, much as sheep might rub together and infect each other. False teaching can never produce unity. Only the truth unifies.

The external cause of false teaching is satanic deception (cf. 1 Timothy 4:1). The internal cause, however, is the depraved or unregenerate mind of the false teacher. “The mind set on the flesh,” writes Paul, “is hostile toward God” (Romans 8:7). Such a mind does not function normally in the spiritual realm; it does not react normally to truth. Being natural men, false teachers cannot understand the things of God, which seem foolish to them (1 Corinthians 2:14). As a result, “God gives them over to a depraved mind” (Romans 1:28; cf. Ephesians 2:1–3;4:17–19).

The spiritual condition of false teachers is critical; they are in a state of apostasy. “Deprived” (1 Timothy 6:5) indicates that someone or something pulled them away from the truth. That does not imply they were saved, but that they had contact with the truth. Like those described in Hebrews 6:4–6, they were thoroughly exposed to the truth, but rejected it.

Unfortunately, their prognosis is not hopeful. Their spiritual condition is terminal. Those who are deprived of the truth are headed for judgment. Hebrews 6:6 solemnly warns of such men that “it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God, and put Him to open shame.” Peter says that they bring “swift destruction upon themselves” (2 Peter 2:1). The severest hell will be reserved for those who, having been exposed to the truth, turned away from it (cf. Hebrews 10:26–31).

Finally, false teachers have a simple motivation: money. They “suppose that godliness” (1 Timothy 6:5, used sarcastically of their false piety) will bring them such gain. Unlike Paul, they cannot say, “I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes” (Acts 20:33). Put simply, they are not “free from the love of money” (1 Timothy 3:3).

The pathology of false teachers is clear. They deny the truth, and their teaching does not produce godly living. They are arrogant and ignorant of spiritual truth. They spend their time in foolish speculations that lead only to chaos and division. Having forsaken the truth, they face eternal destruction. And they serve money, not God. The church must take extreme care not to allow these men to spread their deadly disease. The resulting epidemic would be tragic.

(Adapted from The Macarthur New Testament Commentary: 1 Timothy.)

NINE MARKS OF A PROSPERITY GOSPEL CHURCH

By D.A. Horton | 1.7.2014

How do you assess a prosperity gospel church?

The first nine years of my walk with Christ were spent in such an environment, followed by two years in theological rehab, which prepared me for the next six years of pastoring in the urban context. What’s become clear to me is that the nine marks of a healthy church provide a useful grid for assessing any church, including those that teach the prosperity gospel.

And what we find is that a prosperity gospel church is a purely anti-nine marks church.

Some of the examples in what follows are specific and may not identify with you the reader. Many however are universal and are propagated by preachers on the internet, radio, and television. Since the prosperity gospel movement is inter-denominational, the teachings expressed in this article are not to be associated with any one denomination within evangelical Christianity.

1. EXPOSITIONAL PREACHING

Preaching in prosperity gospel churches is far from expositional. Instead, the purpose of preaching is to motivate hearers to give financially, and you give to get. Preachers exploit the passages that deal with the sacrificial giving of tithes and offerings week in and week out. They instruct hearers to activate their faith by sowing a “faith seed,” thereby taping into God’s law of reciprocity and leading to their own financial breakthrough.

Isolated Old Testament passages are often used as examples of God's abundant reward for faith giving. One passage often used to manipulate hearers into giving more is Malachi 3:10. Prosperity preachers highlight two points from this passage. First, they tell hearers they are robbing God by not tithing. Second, they assure hearers that God wants them to test him by giving more, so that he can give them more.

But consider Malachi 3:10 in its proper context. The Israelites were robbing God by not giving enough food to the national storehouse that was used to feed the priests of Israel. So the priests were having to leave their priestly duties and take up farming to survive (see Neh. 13:10-13). God therefore exhorts Israel to test him by giving obediently. If they did, he would reward them as he did in the past (2 Chr. 31:7-10). The point of this entire passage concerns a historically specific episode in the life of Israel. Preaching it as a Christian sermon, however, requires more than transferring its commands and promises to Christians on a one-to-one basis. Yes, there are larger applications for the Christian concerning giving, but first one needs to account for the differences between old covenant and new, especially the nature of God’s promises to Israel and the manner in which they are fulfilled for the Christian in Christ.

A healthy church uses preaching to communicate God’s words to his people. It confronts the hearer with God’s truth and leads to conviction, encouragement, clarity, and a call to action. It also centers every text around the gospel in order to show the hearer how central and necessary Jesus Christ is to the believer living in obedience to God's word. A healthy church will inform believers that the results of holy living will not necessarily be financial gain but rather godliness that honors our Lord.

2. BIBLICAL THEOLOGY

Prosperity gospel theology rests upon the foundational error that man shares a form of deity with God, such that our words carry the same creative power as God’s words. Psalm 82:6, Proverbs 18:20-21, and Romans 4:17 are popular proof texts used to support this falsehood. It is often said that man is a “lower-case god” and possesses the power to demonstrate deity by speaking things into existence, creating and controlling our destiny with words, and even mandating a frustrated and limited God to act on our behalf for our benefit.

But none of these proof texts support these prosperity teachings. In Psalm 82:6, the Psalmist is crying out to God regarding the immoral judges who were governing the nation of Israel. God speaks directly to the erring judges by addressing them as “gods” to highlight the fact they were judging the nation in his place. They were to use his word as their standard of judgment. In the very next verse God reminds them they are not eternal beings. Instead they are mere men who have failed to live and judge righteously. This passage is not elevating man to a demigod status. Neither is it providing man with the ability to act with sovereign authority. Instead, the only true and living God is judging the immoral actions of these judges.

Proverbs 18:20-21 is a principle, not a promise, and it outlines two truths. The first is that our words do not dictate our destiny; rather, they display the conditions of our heart. Secondly, there are times when our words will cause us to endure consequences. This passage does not promise us the power to declare the length of our life. Neither does it pronounce God powerlessness to save us if we curse ourselves to death, as some prosperity teachers have taught.

In Romans 4:17 Paul teaches that God justified Abraham and declared him the father of nations while Abraham was still childless. This passage has nothing to do with saints speaking into existence more money, job promotions, or even the salvation of lost loved ones. This passage is in fact championing the truth that God is the only one who can call things into existence.

A healthy church teaches its members sound doctrine that is rooted in Scriptures that are kept in context. Sound doctrine is healthy teaching that provides the hearer with the biblical nutrients needed to grow to maturity in Christ (2 Tim. 3:16-17). In order for a church to be healthy, they must teach the whole Bible, in the context of the whole Bible, and root all of their doctrinal convictions in the whole Bible, instead of pulling passages out of context (1 Tim. 1:5; Titus 2:1-10; 2 John 1-6).

3. THE GOSPEL

In many prosperity gospel churches the message of the gospel is identified with the material blessings of the Abrahamic covenant. Although Christ’s perfect life, death, burial, and resurrection are proclaimed, and salvation through Christ alone is championed, many prosperity gospel preachers say the evidence of a person’s belief in the gospel is whether they receive the blessings promised to Abraham by God (Gen. 12-15).

I’ve found this teaching leading people to one of two conclusions. If someone has prosperity and health, they conclude that they are saved because they’re enjoying the promises of Abraham. But if these blessings are not seen in the life of the believer, they don’t have enough faith. They’re in sin. They need to give more tithes. Or perhaps they have not fully trusted in Jesus Christ and need to become born again in order to receive the blessings of Abraham.

In contrast, healthy churches unashamedly proclaim the whole counsel of the biblical gospel. This includes the truth that we were created in God's image (Gen. 1:26-27), we once had open fellowship with God (Gen. 2:7-25), and yet because our first father Adam sinned all of humanity was separated both physically (Gen. 3:1-19) and spiritually (Rom. 5:12) from the holy and righteous God who created us. Since humanity has been separated from God because of sin, the penalty to atone for sin is the shedding of blood and death (Lev. 1:3-17). The beauty of the gospel is fact that Jesus Christ, who has eternally existed as God (John 1:1), became a man (John 1:14), lived a perfect life according to God’s law (Heb. 7:26), and shed his blood while dying in the place of sinners (Mark 10:45 and 2 Peter 2:24). Jesus was buried in a tomb for three days (Matt. 27:57-66) and on the third day rose from the grave (Matt. 28:1-8). Now he calls all people to repent of their sins and trust in him in order to be reconciled to God and receive eternal life (Jn. 3:16).

The biblical gospel does not promise that Christians will be wealthy and prosperous in this life in fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham. Instead, Christians are “blessed” in Abraham in that we receive the Spirit (Gal. 3:14), and we will receive not just land, but the entire new creation, in the age to come (Rom. 4:13, Rev. 21-22).

4. CONVERSION

Conversion in a prosperity gospel church involves an uneasy mix of opposites: easy-believism and salvation by works. Prosperity preachers are known to teach a sinner is “saved” when they finish reciting the “sinners prayer.” After this simple salvation takes place, the new believer is to submit him or herself to the leadership and teachings of the church, tithe regularly, give offerings often, and strive to serve on a continual basis in ministry at the church. As long as a person does these things, he or she maintains salvation. But if one stops them for an elongated period of time, one can lose it. In order to advance this teaching, pastors have been known to use psychological and scriptural manipulation to get the members of the church to do various acts of service in the name of ministry to the Lord. Their service, he promises, will prevent them from “falling from grace” and losing their salvation.

Some prosperity gospel adherents burn out and become angry with their leaders. They begin to question the ministry’s methods and refuse to comply with its demands. I’ve watched pastors who sensed they were losing control of this type of person respond by claiming that the member is in rebellion, causing division, and on a trajectory to lose their salvation unless they repent and begin serving again. In these cases 1 Samuel 15:23was used as the proof text to point out the consequences of the person’s actions and to dissuade others from following. But this verse speaks of King Saul’s direct disobedience to a command of God, not a genuine believer who questions unbiblical teaching or church practices. 

A healthy church lovingly teaches the biblical view of conversion. In the Bible we read that conversion takes place when the biblical gospel is preached (Rom. 1:16-17, 10:9-17) and the sinner repents of their sins and puts their trust in Jesus Christ (Acts 3:19; Rom. 3:21-26). Conversion happens when God the Holy Spirit causes the sinner who is dead in sin to become alive in Christ (John 3:3-8; Eph. 2:1-10). Biblical conversion puts the focus on repentance and belief in the work of Christ, not simply saying a prayer and serving to the point of exhaustion for fear of losing one’s salvation.

5. EVANGELISM

Prosperity gospel churches often teach evangelism must be coupled with a demonstration of signs and wonders. When these two elements are combined it is said that sinners will repent and believe in Jesus. I’ve heard people say in pre-evangelistic times of prayer that sinners will not repent unless they see physical evidence of the supernatural work of God the Holy Spirit as listed in Mark 16:15-16.

Since the inclusion of this passage in the original and oldest most trusted manuscripts is disputed, it is unwise to build one’s doctrinal stance on this passage alone. Further, mandating that people demonstrate the signs in this passage in order to be effective in evangelism is dangerous and manipulative.

Biblical evangelism is proclaiming the gospel and calling sinners to repentance. The gospel needs no upgrades, bells, or whistles in order to be effective (1 Cor. 15:1-4). The Bible is clear that the preached gospel is powerful to save sinners (Rom. 1:16, 10:17).

6. CHURCH MEMBERSHIP

Prosperity gospel churches often equate church membership with regular attendance, tithing, and service—with or without a formal commitment. People are often “grandfathered” into church membership if they do these things long enough. In one case I recall a person who attended the church for over two decades, received the benefits of membership, yet never formally joined the church. They felt no need to since they gave financially and served weekly. I’ve watched people in such circumstances live in open sin and avoid church discipline.

A healthy church presents church membership as a blessing and mandate for the believer. The blessing is that the church affirms the believer’s faith and builds the believer up in love (Eph. 4:11-16). The mandate is that Jesus requires Christians to submit to his authority by submitting to the church’s authority. You’re not truly a member of the body if you can simply detach at will.

7. CHURCH DISCIPLINE

I’ve witnessed church discipline in prosperity gospel churches land on one of two extremes. The first was an informal excommunication where the biblical protocol for church discipline was not followed (i.e., Matt. 18:15-17; 1 Cor. 5:1-13; 2 Cor. 2:6; 2 Thess. 3:6-15). The individuals said to be living in sin were “disfellowshipped” from the church in private only to be spoken of in public as those we were not have contact with because of their rebellion.

The second extreme was for leadership to completely ignore the sin of either another leader, popular member, or both. When this approach was used, the leaders who knew the person’s unrepentant habitual sin willfully refused to acknowledge and deal with it. Sadly, I witnessed leaders members who brought up the sin of other members with statements like, “God forgives and his love covers the multitudes of your sins,” and “only God can judge them.” In the case of sinning leaders remaining in ministry, it was said “the gifts of God come without repentance” a distortion of Romans 11:29. Prosperity preachers often use 1 Chronicles 16:22(“Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!”) as a repellant for questions from members of their congregation. Sometimes prosperity gospel churches have been known to cover the sin of a leader by sending them on a sabbatical in place of practicing 1 Timothy 5:17-20.

Healthy churches embrace God’s desire for a pure, holy church. As they help their people grow in Christlikeness, they will shine like stars in the world (Eph. 4:11-32; Phil. 2:1-18). Healthy churches understand that leaders are not exempt from temptation, lapses of judgment, and sin. Healthy churches then teach and follow the biblical prescription for church discipline, including discipline of leaders (1 Tim. 5:17-20).

8. DISCIPLESHIP

Discipleship in prosperity gospel churches often tends toward co-dependency with the pastor or another prominent church leader. The entry level of discipleship is known as the “armor-bearer” stage. An armor-bearer in Scripture was a person who carried the weapons of their leader and protected them (1 Sam. 14:6-7and 2 Sam. 18:15). But in prosperity gospel churches, armor-bearer has become an unofficial office. New converts who want to grow in their walk with God are placed in a cohort. This cohort is trained to serve the emotional, physical, and spiritual needs of the pastor or church leader. The pastor will often commission armor-bearers to engage in activities ranging from carrying his Bible to paying his bills, all in the name of “ministry.” In some extreme cases I’ve counseled ex-armor-bearers who were instructed to give the pastor massages after he preached, and even sexual favors.

If an armor-bearer sticks around long enough, they can earn a promotion that comes with a title, licensure to preach, and even ordination. Most often, the pastor does this to pad the stats of his ministry as many of these ordained men (and sometimes women) sit on the sidelines cheering the pastor on while he preaches. I’ve known some pastors to boast in having dozens of ordained men sit under them for decades. Rarely are these ordained ministers sent out to plant churches, revitalize dying churches, or engage in vocational ministry overseas. Sadly, in one instance I counseled someone who sat under a pastor for over fifteen years as an ordained minister and was never once instructed about the biblical qualifications of an elder.

A healthy church disciples its people to depend more on Jesus, not a pastor or church leader. Believers grow by deepening their knowledge of Jesus (2 Pet. 3:18), and, by the power of the Spirit, imitating Jesus (1 Cor. 4:16, 11:1; Eph. 5:1). Biblical disciples produce more biblical disciples, not dependents (2 Tim. 2:2; Titus 2:1-8).

9. CHURCH LEADERSHIP

Prosperity gospel preachers often receive undying support from their members because the people live vicariously through their pastor. If the pastor’s platform and bank account grow, the members of the flock celebrate as if the prosperity were their own. Some congregations want their pastor to have the newest top-of-the-line car, wear expensive name-brand clothing, and live in a large home in order that God’s blessings would trickle down to them. I was once told, “If my pastor is living large, he's paving the way for me and my family to live large.”

In many cases, the pastor is said to be God's voice to the congregation, and therefore has unquestioned authority. The leadership structure varies between a C.E.O. model and a monarchy. I’ve often seen others appointed as pastors or elders not based on biblical qualifications but because of their occupation and closeness to the pastor.

A healthy churches champions biblically qualified leaders. 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9 are passages that clearly lay out qualifications for the men who would lead God’s church. The qualifications emphasize the man’s character, not his occupation or friendship with the pastor. Elders are to shepherd the flock, feed them with healthy doctrine, lead in humility, and defend them from false teachers.

SHEEP WITHOUT A SHEPHERD

There is unceasing grief in my heart for people who are under all or some of the teachings highlighted here. They are like the weary, scattered sheep without a shepherd on whom Jesus had compassion (Matt. 9:36). These precious souls of Jesus’ day were being abused, distressed, and harassed by their leaders. They knew no other way of life since it was their own religious leaders who treated them this way. Jesus responded by telling his disciples to pray for the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

The grief I share for the weary and scattered sheep of today drives me to do two things: pray for the Lord to send out laborers who will seek and serve these scattered sheep, and labor to lead a healthy church in order to reach the sheep in my city. I pray this article has helped kindle a fire in your heart for seeing healthy churches serving cities across the globe.

D.A. Horton is executive director of ReachLife Ministries, the non-profit ministry of Reach Records. Prior to serving at ReachLife, D.A. was an urban church planter in Kansas City, Missouri.

The story of Lucy Nduta: of ravenous false prophets and dead sheep

This post originally appeared here

Readers of this blog are aware that I enjoyed the good biblical preaching at the recent Strange Fire conference. That was a conference that sought to refute the claims of the Charismatic movement, to rebuke the leaders of it, and to urge the brethren to pray for discernment so they will be able to detect falsity if it creeps in to their church (or heart).

The Charismatic movement is a movement which is based on the unbiblical notion that personally delivered prophecies, babbling tongues, and healing by men laying hands on the sick (sign gifts) are still going strong as they were at Pentecost and during the Apostolic era.

These sign gifts have ceased, and the preaching at the conference showed this. One of the speakers was Pastor Conrad Mbewe. Pastor Mbewe is pastor of Kabwata Baptist Church in Zambia, Africa. He spoke at John MacArthur's Strange Fire conference in Sun Valley, Calif., on Oct. 18, 2013. His first sermon was titled,  The African Import of Charismatic Chaos. He has been observing the growth of the Charismatic movement in his nation and beyond, for over thirty years. He has personally been impacted by it, as he said, not just from books but in every day life.

His second message was titled "Are We Preachers or Witch Doctors?" In this sermon, Pastor Mbewe related how the African mindset of the lost person, having been drenched in witch doctor superstition, will readily accept the unbiblical precepts inherent in the Charismatic movement because the two are extremely similar.

The lost person is desperate. It is the default condition of the lost person. They are wandering, empty, their lives are void of meaning. They also have life issues that may be very difficult to deal with and because they don't have Christ, they do not have a lasting coping mechanism.

The sick, particularly, look for cures from any quarter: medicines, homeopathic, psychology, or spiritual remedies. The sick are often all too vulnerable and willing to grasp any person who claims to have a way, a cure, a method.

This is where Lucy Nduta comes in.

This woman is from Kenya. She calls herself Prophetess Lucy Nduta, and she preaches. In 2007, Worldwide Religious News printed the following, originally printed in the East African Standard

Churches Sow Miracles
"Nairobi, Kenya - The sprouting of countless charismatic churches in the country has heralded a new breed of church leaders and worshippers with strong faith in the power of miracles. An increasing number of Kenyans are turning to 'sowing the seed' (giving huge sums of money for offering and tithe) at the prompting of church ministers who promise them to expect prosperity. However, it appears there are 'men and women of God' who are out to take advantage of the unwavering faith and ignorance of worshippers. These are people who hide self-interest under the cloak of religion. They quote biblical verses to suit their intentions and convince the congregation of the need to give more in order to receive more."

What Lucy Nduta did was, in the name of Jesus, take sick people's money, supposedly pray for them, and lie to them they were healed. But it gets worse, because it gets more diabolical.

Nduta preyed on people with HIV/AIDS, a scourge that particularly affects the people of the African continent. Nduta would claim that she had the power to heal people suffering from HIV/AIDS through her miracle working porayers, and then herd them to a clinic/lab she had built near her church. The sick people would get tested there, and because Nduta owned the lab, she would have the workers give clean bills of health to these unfortunately trusting people, lab reports that were totally bogus. The people really thought they were cured, and sought no further treatment. And of course in gratitude they tithed heavily to Nduta. They, they died.

The Africa Report stated, "The police later found out that the clinics were her own creation to lure people. She was consequently sentenced to two years in prison. Despite these revelations, thousands still fill churches each Sunday waiting for miracles to happen in their lives."

Nduta was sentenced in 2008 and got out of prison in 2010.

False pastors who shred the sheep are a scourge. When the verse says-

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves."(Matthew 7:15)

Ravenous means, 'Extremely hungry; voracious, Rapacious; predatory, Greedy for gratification'. Ravenous predators never stop. They eat and kill and eat and kill. That is what they do.

Nduta and now her son, are at it again. This report is from last week, Nov 4, 2013-

"Self-styled prophetess Lucy Nduta Mwangi has called in to defend her activities and that of her son, another self-declared prophet Victor Kanyari. Nduta says there is nothing wrong with what she and her son have been doing adding that they will continue asking for what is called seed money.

The report above ends with the announcer stating that the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya will convene to discus and strategize how to deal with the sudden rise of fake preachers in Kenya.

Ravenous is what wolves are. So if you believe that opening yourself just a tiny bit to doctrines which false prophets bring, you are very, very wrong.

An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes?  (Jeremiah 5:30-31)

HAS GOD CALLED YOU? DISCERNING THE CALL TO PREACH

By Albert Mohler

Has God called you to ministry? Though all Christians are called to serve the cause of Christ, God calls certain persons to serve the Church as pastors and other ministers. Writing to young Timothy, the Apostle Paul confirmed that if a man aspires to be a pastor, “it is a fine work he aspires to do” (1 Tim 3:1, NASB). Likewise, it is a high honor to be called of God into the ministry of the Church. How do you know if God is calling you?
First, there is an inward call. Through His Spirit, God speaks to those persons He has called to serve as pastors and ministers of His Church. The great Reformer Martin Luther described this inward call as “God’s voice heard by faith.” Those whom God has called know this call by a sense of leading, purpose, and growing commitment.
Charles Spurgeon identified the first sign of God’s call to the ministry as “an intense, all-absorbing desire for the work.” Those called by God sense a growing compulsion to preach and teach the Word, and to minister to the people of God.
This sense of compulsion should prompt the believer to consider whether God may be calling him to the ministry. Has God gifted you with the fervent desire to preach? Has He equipped you with the gifts necessary for ministry? Do you love God’s Word and feel called to teach? Spurgeon warned those who sought his counsel not to preach if they could help it. “But,” Spurgeon continued, “if he cannot help it, and he must preach or die, then he is the man.” That sense of urgent commission is one of the central marks of an authentic call.
Second, there is the external call. Baptists believe that God uses the congregation to “call out the called” to ministry. The congregation must evaluate and affirm the calling and gifts of the believer who feels called to the ministry.  As a family of faith, the congregation should recognize and celebrate the gifts of ministry given to its members, and take responsibility to encourage those whom God has called to respond to that call with joy and submission.
These days, many persons think of careers rather than callings. The biblical challenge to “consider your call” should be extended from the call to salvation to the call to the ministry.
John Newton, famous for writing “Amazing Grace,” once remarked: “None but He who made the world can make a Minister of the Gospel.” Only God can call a true minister, and only He can grant the minister the gifts necessary for service. But the great promise of Scripture is that God does call ministers, and presents these servants as gifts to the Church.
One key issue here is a common misunderstanding about the will of God. Some models of evangelical piety imply that God’s will is something difficult for us to accept. We sometimes confuse this further by talking about “surrendering” to the will of God. As Paul makes clear in Romans 12:2, the will of God is good, worthy of eager acceptance, and perfect. Those called by God to preach will be given a desire to preach as well as the gift of preaching. Beyond this, the God-called preacher will feel the same compulsion as the great Apostle, who said, “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Cor 9:16, ESV).
Consider your calling. Do you sense that God is calling you to ministry, whether as a pastor or as another servant of the Church? Do you burn with a compulsion to proclaim the Word, share the Gospel, and care for God’s flock? Has this call been confirmed and encouraged by those Christians who know you best?
God still calls . . . has He called you?
This article is republished by request. For further information on discerning the call to ministry, contact Ben Dockery, Director of Admissions at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Ben and his staff will be glad to help you discern God’s call in your life, and what this means as you prepare for the future. Write Ben at bdockery@sbts.edu.

TOUCH NOT THE LORD'S ANNOINTED!!!!!!

Adapted from here

Part the First

When they were few in number,
    of little account, and sojourners in it,
wandering from nation to nation,
    from one kingdom to another people,
he allowed no one to oppress them;
    he rebuked kings on their account,
saying, “Touch not my anointed ones,
    do my prophets no harm!”
          Psalm 105:12-15

Let’s Hear it for the Bus Driver

So there it is, the infamous passage.  “Touch not my anointed ones.”  It’s a favorite passage of authoritarian abusers throughout the church, a sort of “Get Out of Criticism Free” card for preachers.  Because, you know, obviously what the Psalmist has in mind when he talks about sojourners of little account wandering from nation to nation is wealthy American preachers who don’t want anyone looking too closely into their doctrine, their family lives, or their tax returns.
Or did he mean something else?  Psalm 105 is one of the great historical Psalms which celebrates the story of God’s Old Covenant people.  This particular segment speaks of the experience of the Patriarchs.  During their day Israel was not a nation so much as a rather large extended household.  They drifted about among various kingdoms, owning no land and having little military strength.  How did they survive?
The answer is of course the sovereignty of their God.  He did not so much make a law as He prevented the nations from hurting them.  God’s “words” here are symbolic.  They do not so much represent something He said as something He did.  He protected nascent Israel when it could not protect itself.
At this point it seems rather silly to turn this passage into a protection for modern day clerical kings against the spiritual peasantry who support them, doesn’t it?  When we speak this way we sound like nothing quite so much as a bully appealing to the teacher for protection against a weakling.  It’s all backwards.
But there is something more to the passage.  We must ask in what sense the Patriarchs were “the anointed” of God. The Psalm clarifies this in the very next phrase; in their day they were the Lord’s prophets.  God appeared to Abraham, to Jacob, and to Joseph.  Quite possibly he appeared to Isaac as well.  It was in this sense that they were “anointed” – the Spirit was poured out on them so that God might be revealed in the earth.  This is part of the reason why God afforded them special protection.  Is there hope in this detail for the monarchs of ecclesiastical empires?
Let’s flesh that out a bit.  This is one of the few passages which ties the practice of anointing with the prophetic office.  Elijah was commanded to anoint Elisha as prophet in his place, but there is greater precedent for anointing others.  Priests were to be consecrated by anointing with oil.  Eventually Samuel, the prophet raised as a priest, would anoint two men as king over Israel.  So, the “anointed” of God could refer to His prophets, His priests, and His kings.  That triad ought to ring in your ear; we’ll come back to it in a moment.
With the anointing of the kings we come to the age of the Psalms, and of Psalm 105 in particular.  It is a Psalm of David, repeated in I Chronicles 16 as the song David sang when the Ark of the Covenant was first brought to Jerusalem.  Now we know that to David the concept of anointing had special significance.  In his days as an outlaw in the desert he understood that his only protection was from the Lord.  Because he had been anointed as king, God would protect him.  This took on moral significance for David; it would be rebellion against God to attack the anointed.  He perceived that the same protection extended to the madman Saul, who also had been anointed as king.  He refused to hurt Saul even when he had just cause, and he put to death the Amalekite who claimed to have killed the king.

We Three Kings

Now that begins to look hopeful for the aspiring pastoral sociopath, doesn’t it!  If even Saul was under God’s protection by his anointing, certainly the wildest pastors share something of the same protection.  Apparently we can’t ever discipline or even criticize a pastor, even if he tries to murder his own kid with a spear.
Of course this completely ignores the manner in which Samuel, himself a prophet, spoke to Saul.  It is also an argument lacking in proper complexity, for David’s theology of “the Anointed” is certainly complex.  He protected Saul as the anointed of God, and He saw himself as the anointed – the primary focus of the advancement of God’s kingdom in his own day.  But in his Psalms “the Anointed” takes on a deeper meaning.
The word first enters the book in Psalm 2:2.  The kings and rulers of the earth make rebellion not only against the Lord, but also against His Anointed.  At first glance, we might imagine David is speaking of himself.  God responds that He has set His king on Zion, and urges men to submit.  The language of adoption, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you,” could well be a reference to God’s adoption of David’s offspring.  Is the Psalm speaking of the Davidic kings?
Of course you know the answer; the true fulfillment is in the last Davidic king, the Lord Jesus, who will dash the rebellious nations in pieces like so much brittle pottery.  The Psalm ends with blessing on those who take refuge in Him – certainly not in David, but in David’s greater Son.
You see, “the Anointed” in the original Hebrew is the mashiyach, a word you know as “Messiah.”  In the Greek translation of the Psalms, we are warned not to touch His christon, His Christ.  In fact, it is in the Psalms that we learn that the practice anointing in the Old Testament was typical of (a foreshadowing of) the Christ.
The deeper reason for God’s protection of the Patriarchs was that they bore the promised Seed who would destroy Satan and his works.  The anointed offices – prophet, priest, and king – were only hazy pictures of the great mediatorial office of the Christ.

We’re prophets, ‘cuz that’s how prophecy works, right? Consensus?

So, who is the Anointed of God?  Well, for starters, it certainly is not I!  We have no prophets today precisely because Jesus is the Great Prophet – the One like Moses, to whom we must listen.  We have no priests except our Great High Priest who intercedes for us in Heaven.  We have no kings in the church because the Lord Jesus rules from His seat in the Heavenly Zion.  To put it bluntly, we already have a Christ, and we need no other.

Are there protections for the pastors in God’s church?  Yes, but oddly, they are no more than the protections afforded to every person under the Mosaic law – two witnesses are required for a conviction.  Pastors are to be heard, but questioned.  They are to be followed, but only so long as they lead us to Christ.  They are not held to the abysmally low standard set by King Saul, but to the rather lofty standard of Saul of Tarsus, who repeatedly urged the churches to remember how he suffered for the ministry.
Which leaves Psalm 105:15 where, exactly?  Simply here: “Touch not the Lord’s Christ.”  As the second Psalm makes so abundantly clear, rebellion against the true Anointed is rebellion against God Himself.  The Christ is to be loved, obeyed and worshiped – at the peril of our souls.  “Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way.”
Part the Second, being an Improvement upon the First

“Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
         Acts 2:36

And just how have we done with that warning?  The Lord’s Anointed “was in the world, and the world was made by Him, but the world did not know Him.  He came unto His own, and His own did not receive Him.”  If the world wasn’t lost and hopeless before, it certainly is now, right?  God spent centuries warning mankind that His Anointed was coming, and even that His Anointed was His Son.  Watch for Him, we were told.  Listen to Him.  Trust in Him.  Obey Him.  So when He got here, we promptly killed Him.
Can you imagine the absolute horror that fell on the Jews in Jerusalem when the truth of Peter’s sermon hit home?  The entire Scriptures were intended to prepare them for Messiah, and when He came with “mighty wonders and signs” they “crucified and killed [Him] by the hands of lawless men.”  Peter’s sermon is the most damning prosecutorial summation in history.  “Kiss the Son,” we were told, and the only one to kiss Him was Judas.
Now Peter, preaching to Jews, emphasized the guilt of the Jews, but even He hinted at the equal guilt of the Gentiles – the “lawless” ones who carried out the ultimate act of regicide.  Later, just as God had sent Peter to the Jews He sent Paul to the Gentiles, and Paul wasted no time making clear that every person is equally culpable under the Law: “For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.  They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:14-16)
So make no mistake, it is the World, and not only Israel, that is answerable for the murder of the Anointed.  Nor do we escape judgment simply because we live centuries after the fact.  In every act of rebellion against God and His Christ we are like Saul holding the coats at Stephen’s stoning.  We, like him, “approved the execution” of the Son of God.  The warning has been ignored, and as the Psalmist warned, “His wrath is quickly kindled.”
Except for this: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.  For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:8-10)
The Anointed of God, to whom we were supposed to submit but whom we murdered instead, “died for us.”  In the very middle of our rebellion against Heaven, when we were still the enemies of the Lord and of His Christ, reconciliation came through the mercy of the Anointed.  This is the epitome of grace: that the One who had every right to come in splendor and terror, wielding a rod of iron for our destruction, instead came first in humble poverty, bearing a cross for our salvation.
At that thought every Christian – including every pastor, every self-made pope, and every tin-pot ecclesiastical dictator – should go and prostrate himself before the Lord in thanksgiving and praise.  How, we should ask ourselves, does this gospel leave any room for human pride?

Who Every Pompous Mega-Pastor Reminds Me Of

The gospel of grace is entirely incompatible with a preening, self-promoting ministry.  Paul knew his sin – he was “the chief of sinners.”  He also knew the grace by which he had been saved.  That is why he conducted himself in so lowly a fashion.  He believed in pastoral authority – that much is clear – but he chose to work without the wages he deserved, to live without the wife he might have taken, to be insulted, beaten, chained, and ultimately killed.  He believed in pastoral authority, but he sought to exercise that authority with something of the grace and mercy which the Anointed of God had shown to him.
What a foul disservice we do to the Word of God, then, if we go back to the Old Covenant and grab a verse about the Anointed of God and use it to set ourselves up with the very pomp which Christ and His Apostles rejected!  The one thing which Psalm 105:15 most clearly does not mean is that pastors get to act like arrogant fools without any fear of rebuke!
Touch not the Lord’s Anointed?  Well, we have; we killed Him.  Yet He showed us grace, and through that grace we live.  Can we find it in ourselves to live graciously?

WHAT IF MODERN MISSIONAL CELEBRITY PASTORS HAD EXISTED IN THE EARLY CHURCH?

A satire

Written by Andy Webb | Monday, September 9, 2013

I‘ve often wondered what it would have sounded like if they’d had the modern “missional” celebrity pastors in the early church, and how they would have handled issues like Roman pressure to compromise on the Lordship of Christ or the exclusivity of Christianity. I sense it might have gone something like this:

Archaeologists working in Turkey have recently uncovered what they believe to be a 2nd Century fragment from an ancient interview with popular Lycus Valley Presbyter, Elder Lew Dicean, which occurred shortly after the Martyrdom of Polycarp. The fragment is part of a larger scroll, with the Latin Title “TEMPUS” and dated February, 157. Here is what they have translated so far:

“T: So what do are your thoughts?
L: What, the Polycarp thing?
T: Yes
L: Well it’s hard to criticize such a well known guy who’d been in ministry for so long, but I can’t get away from thinking, ‘Come on guys, its just a pinch of incense!’ I mean, think about it, we Christians already support the Roman state in so many ways every day. We pay the taxes that go to build those temples, buy the incense, and make the busts of Caesar! And we even use money that has his image on it already. And hey, who doesn’t worship that just a little, right?
I’m looking forward to a juicy steak tonight that my wife cooks so well – mind you I’m not ‘THAT’ guy, I cook too, it’s just not my night – and I know that steak came from a bull sacrificed in the name of Caesar. So aren’t I kind of a hypocrite if I declare Caesar is Lord in the secular realm in all those ways, but refuse to burn a little incense and say three words?
T: But don’t Christians view that as a compromise?
L: Look, all of us, Christian, Pagan, Jew, Zorastrian, whatever, have to compromise our religious faith a little to be good citizens of the empire. It’s the price of citizenship. And let’s face it, NOT burning incense doesn’t get you into heaven. I think in the future, you’re going to see more Christians seeing this as a political and not a religious issue, and attitudes about whether mixing politics and religion has been healthy are definitely changing.
T: So where do you draw the line?
L: Well, not where Polycarp did. I know he had his reasons, but I think there’s this unhealthy fascination with martyrdom amongst some Christians who see Christianity in this very aggressive, confrontational light that just turns modern people off. We need to engage not enrage the culture. One of our guys, Paul, once wrote in one of his letters – and I have this beautiful framed copy at home – “become all things to all men.” To me, that says I must first become a good Roman before I earn the privilege of being able to tell them about Jesus. So for me, the incense is just part of “becoming a Roman” so that I can win Romans. I think in the future you’re to see less of that martyr in your face Christianity that makes enemies and more of the “Compromissional approach” that I favor…

Andy Webb is a Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian Church America and serves as Pastor of Providence Presbyterian Church in Fayetteville, NC. This article first appeared on his blog and is used with permission.

GOD SPEAKS, BUT HOW?

Does God speak today? Yes.

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. (Heb 1:1–2)

photo credit: practicalowl via photopin cc

Many may be familiar with the Justin Peter's quote, "If you want to hear God speak, read your Bible. If you want to hear God speak audibly, read your Bible out loud." Yes, the Lord speaks today—loudly and clearly. He does so through the closed canon and written revelation of His Word, Scripture. Sufficient for all things (2 Tim 3:15–17), God in His great goodness has provided this Word so that there would be no mistaking, misunderstanding, adding to or taking away from what He has revealed. For the Christian, Scripture must be the final, authoritative word.

Scripture is a closed system of truth, complete, sufficient, and not to be added to (Rev 22:18–19). It contains all the spiritual truth God intended to reveal.¹

Yet, there are always those who seek for "more." More spirituality, more emotion, more revelation. There are those contemplatives and those mystics who teach that if one will only sit still long enough and be quiet enough, they may actually hear the voice of God. There are those who maintain that the Lord still sends prophetic dreams and visions. It is as if God still has more to say, that He didn't quite finish His sentence when the Apostle John closed the book on Revelation 22:21.

To these it may be asked, "Do you write down these personal prophecies and revelations given to you by "God" in the back of your Bible? Are you in the midst of composing the Book of Beth or John or Bill?" Such questions usually will be met with scoffing and exasperation, but are they not appropriate? After all, when God speaks, does He not speak authoritatively? Surely it is impossible for the God of the universe to speak with only partial authority! Either God speaks reliably and with supremacy, or He does not speak at all.

Those who seek after personal revelation, whose ears must be perpetually strained to hear the mumblings and whispers of "God" surely must be forgetting the words of the Apostle Peter. Peter, who himself witnessed the Transfiguration of the Lord Jesus Christ, says this about the importance of God's Word:

For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, 'This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased'—and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

(2 Peter 1:17–21)

It is truly amazing, is it not, that God would offer to men such a Word as revealed through His Son, Jesus Christ? How dare the creature demand anything more when He has already provided all that is necessary! Dr. John MacArthur notes,

Once a congregation sees Scripture as less than the final, complete, infallible authority for faith and practice, it has opened the doors to theological chaos. Anyone can claim to be speaking God’s revelation--and almost anything can be passed off as divinely revealed truth. And make no mistake, some of the best-known charismatic leaders have abused their people’s trust by claiming they are receiving new truth from God, when what they are really teaching are lies and fabrications.²

In spite of this great Word called the Bible, congregations across the globe continue to teach that God is offering progressive revelation, that He still is speaking to believers here and there through voices, visions and dreams. One such example of this is Pastor Rob Reimer of South Shore Community Church in Brockton, Massachusetts. In his book, Pathways to the King, Reimer states:

The gift of the Spirit is about a direct experience with God. We will hear God's voice—through dreams, visions, and prophecy—and that will authenticate the presence of God and draw people to direct experiences with Him. This is for all God's people: men, women, and children.³

In a 2011 blog post entitled, "God Speaks. Are You Listening?" Dr. Reimer offers six ways in which he claims the Lord continues to speak today:

1. An audible voice

Says Reimer, "Jesus heard the audible voice of His Father." Well, yes He did. Of course, He was, after all, Jesus. Reimer offers Paul as another example of God speaking audibly, yet the Bible-reading Christian will note that Paul's experience was most certainly unique and not something that is to be expected by all Christians for all time.

2. A whisper

"The old timers called it the still small voice of God. Often it is just God guiding our thoughts, but we learn to recognize when it is God guiding our thoughts, and when it is just us thinking." Unfortunately, Reimer does not reveal just how it is that this distinction between God's "guiding our thoughts" and "just us thinking" can even be made. Perhaps it is just trial and error? Yet, trial and error is hardly the method in which God revealed His Word to the prophets of old.

3. Through pictures

Of this means, Reimer states, "Not every picture that comes to our mind, not every dream we have is from God. Just like not every voice that is heard, nor every thought that we have is from God. We have to test it." Again one is left with trial and error. Oh, one may perhaps argue that the picture need only be tested against the truth of Scripture to discern its validity. This by necessity leads to the question, "Why isn't Scripture good enough in the first place?"

4. Through emotions

"Grief is an emotion. Sometimes the conviction of the Spirit comes to me and I feel it. . . . Many times, God speaks to us through love. Often I will begin to feel God’s love for a person, right before God gives me a prophetic word to encourage a person." Indeed, the Holy Spirit does convict of sin and the believer rests in the joy of the Lord, but man cannot trust his emotional whims. Emotions are fickle and easily manipulated. No doubt this is why Jeremiah warned that "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?"

5. Through "a word we see in our mind's eye"

Reimer explains, "It is like a cartoon caption. We see a word spelled out." The ridiculousness of this statement makes additional commentary unnecessary.

6. To our "knower"

Says Reimer, "Sometimes we just know something. God speaks to us Spirit to spirit, and we just know something." How can one know that it is God who has spoken "Spirit to spirit"? Well, ironically enough, Reimer's explanation of this last point leaves one not knowing.

The astute reader may notice something glaringly absent from this list. Out of Rob Reimer's "six ways God speaks," he does not include the fact that God speaks through His Word! How is it that the most obvious method by which God speaks was omitted from this list?

Though now two years old, this blog post of Reimer's sparked new interest as a reader, who calls herself Barb, recently left the following comment:

Source

To which Reimer replied:

Source

Reimer's use of passages such as Acts 2:17, John 14–16 and John 10:27 to substantiate his claims that "There is no verse that says God stops speaking" seemed worthy of a challenge. Verses must, after all, be examined in their broader context in order to properly interpret them.

As such, this writer left three nearly identical comments over a period of a couple of weeks, simply attempting to engage the text. The persistence of this writer was due to the perhaps naive assumption that a pastor of the Word of God would be eager and anxious to discuss why it is he believes and teaches a certain thing. Unfortunately, none of those comments were published on Pastor Reimer's blog. Instead, an email recently was received from Executive Pastor Sharon Anderson (see this post for additional teaching on the unbiblical notion of women elders). That email reads as follows:

To Whom it May Concern:

This blog is the intellectual property of South Shore Community Church. We are under no obligation to publish your comments. However, the First Amendment gives you the right to express your opinions on your own blog. We would encourage you to do so.

Respectfully,

Sharon Anderson, Executive Pastor

This writer thanked Sharon Anderson for her reply and explained the reason for such persistence. At this point it is extremely important to note that this blog post at Do Not Be Surprised has not in any way been written out of spite or anger. Indeed, every blog owner has the right to publish or not publish comments on his or her own blog as is seen fit (even DNBS exercises this right per the posted comment policy).

Rather, the purpose of this post is to once again shed light upon the darkness that is found within the charismatic movement. How many caught up in this movement live in bondage and depression because they have not yet "heard" from God through voices, visions and dreams? How many live in despair that they have not yet exercised enough faith for God to "speak" to them? How many are robbed of joy and peace because they do not realize that God has spoken to them, fully and finally and personally, in His Holy Word?

The second purpose of this post is to ensure that all things truly are tested against Scripture. God's Word is the final and perfect authority. It points the believer to Christ, who is the Christian's hope, Savior, Lord and King. With that, below is the comment that was left at Pastor Reimer's blog and remains unpublished as of this writing:

The man or woman who seeks to have his or her personal experience trump the Word of God is one who desperately needs to seek the truth that is only found in that Word. May Christians pray that God would open the eyes of those who have been deceived by these dangerous and deceptive doctrines. May God rescue many who are wandering, lost amid the voices and visions in their head, ignorant that the way to the truth can be found in the most obvious of places: the pages of Scripture.

The truth is, there is no fresher or more intimate revelation than Scripture. God does not need to give private revelation to help us in our walk with Him. “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:16–17, emphasis added). Scripture is sufficient. It offers all we need for every good work.⁴

______________________
Footnotes
1. John MacArthur, "Does God Still Give Revelation?" Accessed 18 August 2013.
2. ibid.
3. Rob Reimer, Pathways to the King, (Carpenter's Son Publishing: 2013), 68.
4. John MacArthur, "Does God Still Give Revelation?" Accessed 18 August 2013.

Further Reading
What God Says About His Word
Affirming Sola Scriptura
Doctrine Matters
Beth Moore's 'Sabbath Moment' Playdate with God