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Why I Have Left the Assemblies of God

Posted in Another christ, AOG, Apostasy, Assembly of God in Apostasy, Discerning the Times, Discernment, Emerging Church, Humanism, idolatry, Mega Churches, Post-Modernism, prophetic, Prosperity Gospel, Religious Babylon, Signs of The Times, Synchretism, Wolves, Word Faith on January 24, 2018| 24 Comments »

from: 828 ministries

I am speaking the truth in Christ–I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit– that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. – Romans: 1-2 (ESV)

I make no pretense to be expositing the key verses today. These are verses where Paul is expressing his dismay about how far lost his own people, the Jews, were at the time of his preaching. I cite them today only because I understand how Paul must have felt, albeit on a smaller scale. This great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart is borne witness by the Holy Spirit within me. I am not lying beloved. I try as always to speak the truth in Christ. I was saved almost 13 years to the day in an Assemblies of God church. A not so reformed and non-practicing Catholic who believed in a God without realizing I was my own God. It was a good church. A Gospel preaching church. A God-fearing church. Pentecostal and charismatic without many of the abuses that often come with it. We had a great pastor. A born evangelist with a true shepherd’s heart. A rare mix these days behind the pulpit. I went there that day with an equally unsaved friend and we both left that day in Christ. Within a month I was baptized and within a year I was in classes for ministerial credentials. Five years later I was a minister for the Assemblies and remained such until this month when I resigned those credentials. This technicality is irrelevant as my call was always from God and not man. The unceasing anguish is in leaving the only church family I have ever known. In 1962 Ronald Reagan remarked as he joined the GOP that he did not leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left him. That is how I feel today. I am not leaving the AG as much as the AG has already left me. Both globally and locally. My great sorrow is that the affiliation in which I learned discernment seemingly has lost theirs. The affiliation that once bravely stood up to Jimmy Swaggart now barely stands against anything.

Beloved we must understand the backdrop, which is the times in which we live. When we see the Biblical prophecies play out every night on the news and see the moral decay spiraling out of control each day, those who have eyes to see can see that we are living in the end times. The Bible warns us very clearly about these times. There will be a great apostasy, or falling away from the faith. This is very much underway in the church today. Paul warned Timothy about this:

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. – 2Timothy 4: 3-5 (ESV)

One just needs to look at what is taught today as doctrine to see the great apostasy. People follow prosperity myths, word faith myths, hyper-grace myths, false signs and lying wonders myths just to name a few. They gather around themselves teachers who specialize in teaching these myths. They wander off by choice. They choose to fall away. Their ears itch with their own passions and want teachers who will scratch them. With this understanding we must decide what side we are on. Remember, Jesus said there are only two choices:

Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. – Matthew 12: 30 (ESV)

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. – Matthew 7: 13-14 (ESV)

Narrow is the gate and few are those who find it. Think about that as you watch the next false teacher speaking to tens of thousands or claiming that entire swaths of people “gave their hearts to Christ.” There are only two choices beloved. We are either found gathering people to the Gospel or scattering them away from it. Thus doctrine becomes our critical measuring stick. Our plumb line. Who we choose to associate with becomes critical as well. Who we loan our credibility to. I once viewed Francis Chan for example to be a solid bible preacher. Once he decided to promote the wildly heretical false prophet Mike Bickle however, his preaching was no longer relevant. Remember what Paul charged the Galatians with?

You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. – Galatians 5: 7-9 (ESV)

A little false teaching eventually infects your theology. It spreads. It is parasitic. There can be no compromise allowed. This is not about perfection but rather purity of the Gospel. I have watched for years concerned about the direction the AG was heading in but was willing to wait and see. Anyone after all can make a mistake. Then the heresies started piling up. For me it all starts with the embracing of Rick Warren theology. The Purpose Driven Church has done more damage to the cause of Jesus Christ than anything in generations. It has eradicated the shepherd mentality amongst pastors and instead turns them into CEOs. Don’t believe me? Ask Andy Stanley, a staunch Warren adherent:

(When asked about Pastors being called shepherd) – That word needs to go away.” He added, “It was culturally relevant in the time of Jesus, but it’s not culturally relevant anymore.” – Andy Stanley (Leadership Journal, “Get-it-Done Leadership,” May 2006).

This began the slippery slope of growing churches but not the kingdom. The Assemblies embraced the Purpose Driven Life as well and coordinated their churches to all read it together. Something we even did at my church at the time. This is the same book that only addresses salvation one time and presents a nine word “sinner’s prayer” that is followed by an absurdly presumptuous – “Welcome to the family of God!”

Fast forward a few years and the AG tried to coordinate their churches again for a group reading. This time it was a book written by one of their own pastors, Mark Batterson. The Circle Maker is nothing but rank heresy. Based upon a fable found in the Mishnah, Batterson tries to change how Christians pray from being reverent to being petulant. The act of drawing circles is also taken directly from witchcraft. That does not mean the Mr. Batterson intended this. Intent however is irrelevant. The Circle Maker remains to this day a black eye upon the Assemblies. Then there are the associations the AG has chosen to make. Who they have aligned themselves with. Many are not aware of “Empowered 21,” which is self described as:

“The Empowered21 Global Council is an esteemed group of International Christian leaders, co-chaired by George Wood and Billy Wilson. These leaders give inspirational oversight to13 Regional Cabinets across the world and seeks to provide resources to address the crucial issues faced by the Spirit-empowered church.”

So the General Superintendent of the General Council of the Assemblies of God in America is the co-chair of this international coalition. Problem? Not until you see who are part of its leadership:

Bill Johnson, Reinhard Bonnke, Lisa Bevere, Kenneth Copeland, Jentezen Franklin, Brian Houston, Cindy “The General” Jacobs, Robert Morris, Phil Pringle to name a few. This is a who’s-who of false teachers and wannabe prophets. I guess Osteen, Warren and Prince were just too busy. Seriously. Why in the world would you co chair this smorgasbord of heresy? Why would you even want to be on the same website? Bill Johnson believes in grave sucking the residual anointing from dead false teachers. He runs his own school for the supernatural where he teaches people the gifts of the spirit – pure blasphemy! Robert Morris abuses his sheep and tells them to pay him his tithes before paying their rent or bills or medicine or else God will curse all of their money! General Cindy Jacobs? Are you serious? Kenneth Copeland and Brian Houston? The Assemblies should know better. Reinhard Bonnke? International charlatan who brags about raising the dead? The AG threw a banquet in his honor recently. These are not fringe elements in apostasy. These are the leaders beloved.

Then there was the extremely poor decision to get into bed with ex-Catholic mystic Roma Downey and her heretical “AD Miniseries.” When I say in bed I mean under the covers. The AG actively marketed the “church kit” that Downey was selling which turned over your local church to this miniseries for 12 weeks. Each week they would provide you with a video sermon given by a Christian celebrity to match that week’s episode. The third lesson was done by none other than George Wood. Other notable teachers in the series were the aforementioned Mark Batterson and the Hillsong false teacher, Christine Caine. The teaching aside, the actual miniseries was a disaster biblically. It was clear that one of the goals Downey had was to overstate the role of women and make any leading male character out to either be a wimp or psychotic. Beloved we are not talking about artistic license. This series simply did not correctly represent the Bible. I can understand someone who is unsaved not understanding the point but I am talking about the actual story. Mary for example did not have to convince the disciples to wait the three days for when Jesus said He would rise again. Without getting too bogged down in the detail this was another example of very poor decision making by the Assemblies regarding who they want to be found in league with.

It was no wonder then that this past year at their annual General Council one of their speakers was Christine Caine. Never mind that she is from Hillsong, the largest international heretical organization on the planet. Never mind that she is an ardent supporter of someone like Joyce Meyer. Never mind that after “shadowing” Meyer for a week she tweeted a picture of herself laying hands upon the Bible of Joyce Meyer and praying for “an impartation of her “teaching anointing and revelation.” The same Meyer who teaches Jesus went to hell and had to be born again there. The same Meyer who teaches that she never sins. The same Meyer who teaches that we are all little gods. It is no wonder then that the quote that hit the Internet from Caine that night which was taken as some deep nugget of wisdom was:

“The size of your ministry is determined by the size of your heart.” – Christine Caine

Not determined by God. Not determined by the Holy Spirit. Not determined by correct doctrine or preaching the correct Gospel. No beloved. Determined by the size of our wickedly deceptive hearts. Therein sums up the progression of falling away I have witnessed within the Assemblies for the past several years. They bought into the Warren theologies of growth and marketing. They bought into the seeker friendly notions of church growth. They continued to make whatever associations were popular and gained them more exposure with seemingly little concern about doctrine. As a minister for the Assemblies, I am expected to support them and in complete fairness I can no longer do so.

That is the global scene if you will. It is the scene everyone sees on television and being reported. What is often lost however is the local scene. We all belong locally before we belong globally. There are still some very good AG churches out there beloved. Churches who are trying to do the right thing and preach the whole Gospel. Eventually they will have to come out from among them if the Assemblies does not stop its free-fall. Locally however, the politics are even worse. The disregard for correct doctrine is widely accepted as long as you can put bodies in the seats each week. Never mind if people leave. That is a Warren principle taught in the Purpose Driven Church called “Blessed Subtraction.” This principle teaches pastors that it is OK to let sheep wander away from your flock as long as you replace them. Talk about not understanding the 99 and the one! But this point is vitally important because Purpose Driven teachings insist that we are no long in the business of reaching the unsaved but rather the unchurched. That may sound subtle but it is purely a satanic plot. Instead of focusing on their salvation pastors now focus on whether they belong to a church. Instead of focusing on their relationship to Jesus they focus on their relationship to ministry. That is why Blessed Subtraction is so widely accepted theologically even though it violates the entire Bible! As long as you replace the body then the church has not “lost” anything. But what about the sheep that wandered off?

I have watched such local abuses and continue to see them to this day. I know hundreds of people devastated by Christian leaders and a church that swore they loved them as Christ does but then casually left the pen door open and kicked them out into the cold. I heard a pastor once preach that if a congregant had a problem with someone else they need to leave. From the pulpit this was said. During a sermon. I have watched congregations be eviscerated of anyone who was biblically literate. Anyone who dared to ask any questions. Anyone who even mildly objected. I have watched Elder Boards be launching pads for ministerial preaching careers from people who have no business dividing the Word of Truth. What does the Assemblies do about it?

Absolutely nothing.

In fairness, the overall Assemblies has little power over the churches in their fellowship. The power remains at the local level and that is not necessarily a bad thing if you are ensuring the biblical authority of your ministers. Instead however the local assemblies becomes this game of politics and productivity. If a pastor is seen as a producer, meaning he can refill the seats of those who leaves and grow his church, then doctrine or abuses can be nodded and winked at. Meanwhile the landscape is littered with bloody sheep, many of whom will never set foot in a church again. It is for these local reasons and the people who cry out from their abuses that I also feel compelled to walk away. I have close friends and acquaintances who were set into spiritual tailspins, seemingly never to recover. Every month seems to brings to light a new victim locally and a new doctrinal abuse globally. And beloved, please understand that this is not a broad brush I intend to paint with. As I have said there are plenty of good AG churches and ministers who preach the uncompromised Word of God and are led by real shepherds. This is also not personal in nature, even though I could recount my own personal tales of abuse. It is not about me. It is about the sheep of the Lord and the primacy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In good conscience I cannot continue to write that believers need to come out from among the falseness in the church today and continue to proudly claim affiliation to an organization that has lost its way. I will pray for the AG because I love the AG. I ask that you do the same. I pray that this once proud organization returns to its roots of uncompromised Gospel preachers. Time is running out.

Reverend Anthony Wade – January 16, 2016

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Evangelical White Magic

Posted in abominations, Another christ, Apostasy, Assembly of God in Apostasy, Discernment, Emerging Church, Hinduism, Humanism, idolatry, Moonbats, Paganism, Post-Modernism, prophetic, Signs of The Times on April 19, 2016| Leave a Comment »

“Joel Osteen is an especially toxic example of this approach. He promotes what he calls the power of “I am.” “Look in the mirror,” he says, “and say, ‘I am.’ Tell yourself that you’re healthy, strong, and successful.” He also warns against saying bad things of yourself because if you do, those bad things will come looking for you. Yet, this is the occultism known as positive confession or shamanism. To dress it up as Christianity, Osteen uses scripture out of context (of course) and twists it to his own ends.”

from Worldview Weekend:

For most of the past century, Walt Disney productions have entertained millions of people with animated tales of magic. Since Mickey Mouse first starred in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, we’ve seen the supposed wonders of the supernatural at work. It’s all meant for fun, of course, and the good guys always win.

But are there really any good guys?

When it comes to real magic, the answer is “no.” Although you may have heard a distinction between black magic—special powers used for evil—and white magic—powers used for good—both are from the demonic realm. White magic is meant to look good, but it’s not. By God’s standard, it is evil, too.

 Seduced by Magic

White magic may well be more dangerous than its dark alternative because it is actually black magic camouflaged as something good. People have always been fascinated by the idea of magic. As A. W. Tozer notes, “So strong is the bent of the human heart toward magic that there has hardly been a time when the faith of Christ has not been plagued with it.”

Strange as it may seem, many people who claim to be Christians these days are fooling around with various forms of magic, Gnosticism, and mysticism, all of which derive from the occult. Many have wrapped occult practices, techniques, and messages in a veneer of Christianity by using Christian titles, terminology, and slogans.

Many within the New Age movement talk about Jesus, God, salvation, or atonement, but they’re playing with words. The New Age is nothing more than the old lie of Satan which he first tried with great success on Eve in Genesis 3:4: “You will be like God.” To people today, that means we each get to decide what is right and wrong. We can discover hidden knowledge. We decide our own truths. Some churches now even offer “Christian yoga,” yet there’s nothing Christian about it. Yoga means yoke or union with a Hindu god.

Yoga’s cousin, transcendental meditation (TM) is likewise popular, originally brought to America by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the mid-twentieth century. Despite the popularity of drug use in the 1960s, many Americans did not want to take drugs to discover their “inner Christhood” or deity through an altered state of consciousness. As a result, the Maharishi took advantage of the opportunity to bring Hinduism to the United States. He gave yoga the more marketable name, transcendental meditation, and brought it to the West.

So, yoga is an integral part of Hinduism, a thoroughly occult-based religion, and we’re supposed to believe it can be Christianized? I don’t think so.

Christians have also gotten involved in other practices unbecoming to Christ followers. Take automatic writing, for instance. It’s the idea that you can read a verse and then sit in silence, waiting for the Lord to tell you—either audibly or “in your spirit”—a message to write down. The practice is supposed to reveal what a particular verse means.

New Age author Helen Schucman actually claims to have written a whole book through automatic writing. A Course in Miracles is acclaimed by devotees to be the ‘Bible of the New Age.’ And who is the entity that supposedly helped Schucman write her bible? She claimed it was Jesus, but no doubt any help she received was from a demon with the boldness to call himself Jesus.

So now automatic writing shows up in Christianity—even among evangelicals. Jesus Calling, one of the best-selling Christian books in the past decade, is written by Sarah Young. Although she doesn’t claim automatic writing as the source for her work, she does acknowledge the influence of God Calling, a devotional book by A. J. Russell in the 1930s. Russell, a New Age mystic, created the book by editing the journals of two unnamed women—the “two listeners”—who credited automatic writing as their source.

Although I don’t agree with everything Merrill Unger writes, he offers an insightful overview of what magic like this is all about:

Magic may be defined as the art of bringing about results beyond man’s power through the enlistment of supernatural agencies. White magic is black magic in pious masquerade. It uses, in a magic way, the name of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, along with Bible phrases and terminology, but is demonic—demonic in character. . . .

It is carried on in many so-called Christian circles. It is called white because it parades under the banner of light in contrast to black magic that openly enlists the aid of the powers of darkness.38

Despite this, many Christians involve themselves in occult practices such as Kundalini yoga. This particular “brand,” popular with some evangelical circles, manifests involuntary bodily movements supposedly induced by a connection with the Holy Spirit. In Hinduism, these are called kriyas and are actually a sign of contact with demons. I detail this in Religious Trojan Horse and show its popularity within the Word of Faith and New Apostolic Reformation movements, in particular. Similar manifestations embraced by many so-called Christians include holy laughter, barking like dogs, crawling around on all fours, and experiencing uncontrollable shaking of the head, the body, or extremities. Those who demonstrate these unbiblical manifestations believe them to be a sign that the Holy Spirit has come upon them. Unger, obviously, has warned that such a claim is not to be trusted. Even if these people attribute the manifestations to the Holy Spirit, they are actually the work of Satan, the very sort of activity we see in Hinduism and the New Age.

In my Worldview Weekend mega-resource, worldviewpedia.com, I archive video clips of false teachers like Kenneth Copeland and the late Kenneth Hagin involved in holy laughter, rolling on the floor, and being drunk in the spirit. In one, Hagin announces, “Drunk again, drunk again” as people in the audience stumble around, laughing and acting drunk, supposedly overcome by the Holy Spirit. In truth, it is a form of white magic in its typically pious masquerade.

We often see evidence of black magic around us as well. At the mall, you’ll see people in Goth outfits—black trench coats, black shirts, black makeup, and the like—and wearing occult jewelry. That’s the basis of the Gothic look. So, the influence of black magic is fairly easy to spot. Many of them are into the Wicca religion, occultism, or black magic.

White magic, on the other hand, is more difficult to address because its many forms of camouflage include hints of the truth. One of Satan’s most effective strategies is to insinuate just enough truth to attract an audience that would not be attracted to darker things. People then mistake the partial truth for the whole truth, and Satan succeeds in undermining the Gospel. It’s the sort of false teaching we see from sources like Trinity Broadcasting Network and Daystar.

These are outlets for selective truth. At times, I’ve turned on their television programs just to see what they’re teaching, and I’ve noted, “Well, that’s true. This guy is reading from the Bible and is actually teaching it accurately. He described that verse in context.” They offer just enough truth to build credibility with listeners. People in the audience are wooed into thinking the teachers are reliable and therefore don’t recognize when they shift into Scripture-twisting mode. Suddenly, an unwitting audience is believing things like “you need to send in your faith seed,” “apply the power of positive thinking,” “name it and claim it,” or “your words have power to create your future.”

Joel Osteen is an especially toxic example of this approach. He promotes what he calls the power of “I am.” “Look in the mirror,” he says, “and say, ‘I am.’ Tell yourself that you’re healthy, strong, and successful.” He also warns against saying bad things of yourself because if you do, those bad things will come looking for you. Yet, this is the occultism known as positive confession or shamanism. To dress it up as Christianity, Osteen uses scripture out of context (of course) and twists it to his own ends.

Christians should not be duped by such things. Scripture warns us against white magic. In 2 Corinthians 11:14-15, Paul says:

Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.

White magic is Satan transforming himself into an angel of light, and the consequences can be extremely serious. For instance, I suspect that Moroni, the angel who allegedly appeared to Joseph Smith and gave him the tablets which Smith “translated” into the Book of Mormon, was a Satanic angel of light. It started one of the largest modern-day cults, the Church of the Latter Day Saints. I believe the same is true of many cult leaders today. They think they’ve encountered an angel when, in fact, they are involved with a demon.

Unfortunately, this is not just a television phenomenon. Chances are there are one or more “churches” in your community that are packed on Sunday morning. One might even be the biggest church in town. The pastor, though, is not really a minister of God. He’s preaching a false Gospel, and the implications for the church leader and his congregation are bleak. Jesus said, “He who is not with Me is against Me” (Matthew 12:30). People are either believers and in the camp of God, or they are in the camp of Satan. So, many “pastors” are not true pastors; they’re hirelings (John 10:12). And as 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 says, their “end will be according to their works.” Those who masquerade as ministers of righteousness really work for Satan.

Scripture records a revealing story of white magic at work. Look at Acts 16:16-18:

Now it happened, as we went to pray, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour.

Divination is another word for magic and is also an occult practice. Any time you see the word divination, you’re talking about something that deals with the occult.

The slave girl in this story apparently is able to reveal information, like a fortune teller, that supposedly comes from the spirit world. Her owners sold her divination services and made a lot of money. They certainly didn’t care about her soul. They were interested only in the money. The demon speaking through her did as so many false teachers do today. It laced its comments with just enough truth to be convincing. “These men are the servants of the Most High,” it announced, “who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” That is, after all, exactly what Paul and his companions were doing. Yet the demon had a seriously ulterior motive. It was using the girl to infiltrate the group of believers. And isn’t that what goes on today? Demonically inspired false teachers infiltrate the Church, speaking just enough truth to build credibility and attract an audience.

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Sacramento Assembly of God pastor “builds bridges” across religions

Posted in abominations, Another christ, Anti-Christ, AOG, Apostasy, Assembly of God in Apostasy, Discernment, Elitism, Emerging Church, False Christians, False Teachers, Humanism, Islam, Judaism, Mega Churches, Moonbats, Post-Modernism, prophetic, Religious Babylon, Signs of The Times, Synchretism, Wolves on July 17, 2014| 1 Comment »

There is so much wrong with what this “Pastor” is saying. He lumps perceptions about political party allegiance (As if Christians are supposed to declare a public political allegiance to either of the fallen humanistic led American political parties)  in with a multitude of other errors.

What he displays is the classic Assembly of  God second generation “priestly class” humanist mentality. One that says “I was born into the AOG priesthood to an AOG Pastor and therefore it is my right and destiny to be in that class so I can lead people wherever I choose”.  This type of thinking is a cancer in the Assembly of God Ministry!

Everyone who reads this needs to look at your own church. Even if you have a pastor that preaches and teaches what is right and good NOW. If it is a situation where “the pastor is master” then 99% of those pastors will go down the road to error in order to maintain their “high place” instead of being scorned, shunned, and pushed aside for standing up for Biblical truth. Our churches heap praise on pastors and feed their humanistic egos which overtakes their love for the truth!

“God never intended for a Pastor to be a “King”. Sadly, this is what most congregations want just as Israel wanted a king. They want someone to tell them what to do instead of taking responsibility to do it themselves. They are satisfied to live their spirituality vicariously through the Pastor, their king. This Pastor has obviously taken on that role and is now leading an entire congregation into the depths of deception. It is absolutely heartbreaking!”

 

from The Sacramento Bee:

A Pentecostal pastor, a rabbi and an imam walk into a restaurant. Then they go to a synagogue. For Ramadan, Pastor Rick J. Cole of Capital Christian Center – one of the region’s oldest and largest fundamentalist churches – gave a sermon to about 500 Muslims and their friends at the Sunrise Event Center in Rancho Cordovaon Friday.

Cole, 56, was a featured guest on Imam M.A. Azeez’s weekly talk show, “Heart of the Matter.” The show has explored women’s rights, justice, self-expression and democracy in the Muslim world.

Cole, whose 98-year-old Assemblies of God church was long considered the most conservative in the region, has been reaching out to gays, Jews and now Muslims to break down barriers and biases. Cole joined Azeez and Rabbi Mona Alfi at Congregation B’nai Israel on June 18 to mark the 15th anniversary of the one of the most heinous – and ultimately unifying – events in Sacramento history, the pre-dawn firebombing of three Sacramento synagogues. Those blazes were followed by the firebombing of a building housing an abortion clinic and the murder of a gay couple – Gary Matson and and Winfield Mowder – while they slept in their Happy Valley home in rural Shasta County.

Cole, who replaced his father, the late Pastor Glen D. Cole, at the helm of Capital Christian Center in 1995, told the audience at B’nai Israel he’d been to Israel seven times and asked forgiveness of those he may have had been intolerant toward. “I’m now intolerant of people who are intolerant. I’ve got to figure out how to tolerate intolerant people,” Cole said. “We make things about issues instead of people,” he said, adding that he now has a growing number of gay congregants. As for those who don’t accept believers of different faiths or sexual orientation, “if they’ve got a problem, I’m not going to let it become my problem. They really need to talk to more people!”

Cole – whose church’s motto is “Truth, Growth, Love” – has 7,000 congregants, about 4,000 of whom attend one of his three Sunday sermons. Some of them speak in tongues. He oversees the 1,000 students at his church’s Christian school; serves on the board of Sacramento Steps Forward, a partnership addressing the needs of the region’s homeless; and provides help to inner-city schoolchildren through Equal Start. He also works with Champions, which assists special-needs families, and he supports the Center for AIDS Research.

What’s inspired you to step outside the box and reach across the aisle?

Rabbi Alfi, Imam Azeez and I started meeting for lunch at Plates (a restaurant that trains homeless moms) three years ago. Rather than assuming things about each other, we’ve developed a good friendship through direct communication. Too often we stereotype groups and determine this is the way everyone is within that group. There are many people of the Muslim faith who are not interested in violence. Often, they become characterized that way by 9/11 and other incidents that have occurred. There are far fewer Muslim people of faith who embrace extremism than those who are pushing it away. Imam Azeez has become a friend, I see him as a man of hopes and dreams for building a better world and not for tearing it down. The more common ground we can all find, and the more we learn about each other’s belief systems, the more we grow. Friday, I said, “I know the Quran is a great source of wisdom in understanding who God is. We share four of the five pillars of Islam: there is only one God; daily prayers; give to the poor and help the hurting; and fasting, self-control and self discipline.”

Your church has long been considered a bastion of conservatism. What’s changed?

We still lean toward a Republican ideology, but today we have strong representation across the aisle. We have a real passion for ethnic diversity, and people of other ethnicities often tend to adopt a more Democratic ideology. When we blend together different points of view, that’s quite important in challenging how we come together. … There are so many things that divide us ethnically, socioeconomically, spiritually. Part of my role and goal is to unify and honor people, bless people and affirm people.

In the 1980s, Capital Christian Center threatened to quit the Interfaith Service Bureau for admitting a gay-oriented church, and in the 1990s gay and bisexual protesters accused you of “a long history of anti-gay political activity and bigotry.” What’s happened since?

It’s something I’ve grown into the last five or six years. Life is a journey, and we should always be learning and growing along the way. It’s OK to have strong beliefs and convictions, but when we make that the only message, it becomes a dividing line that doesn’t help us build community with others who don’t see things quite the way we do. I had a revelation that God wants us to find ways to love people and not separate them. God’s heart of love for each of us is equal. Homosexuality’s still a complex subject and can cause some to be judgmental. I can maintain convictions but don’t have to impose those convictions on people who don’t share them.

If we take homosexuality as an issue, we dehumanize the person, and I don’t believe God ever does that. God loves each of us right where we are. In the past we have chosen to communicate a certain belief from scripture that homosexuality is not acceptable to God and push that way, instead of leading with, “God loves you and we do too.” I’ve adopted a love for gay people from my own heart, and we have a really great dialogue about faith and how we can encourage one another along the way. Our church has gone from where we wouldn’t know if we had any gay congregants to where we know we have at least several dozen, and instead of being afraid to come here, God wants us to make this a safe place for people to grow.

In 2009, you apologized to Christina Silvas, a former stripper who’d been asked to remove her children from your school in 2001, and to Ben Sharpe, an African American star student who was banned from eighth-grade graduation because his buzz cut violated school policy in 1995. Who are the intolerant you’ve got to learn to tolerate?

There’s a lot of intolerance when it comes to ideas – the political atmosphere in our country is so polarized. It would do us all good if we could have more conversations instead of accusations. Immigration is obviously a great concern – we have to have a heart of compassion for these children coming every day. The more grace we have for others, the more grace we receive. I’m concerned about those who want to make this issue non-human – these are precious people and we need to try and put ourselves in their shoes and practice empathy and see the world through their lens – ‘What if it were me?’ There are those who want to build a utopian world for ourselves. That’s not what we’re here for; we’re here to help each other.

It’s an evolving understanding of our role and how we pursue our place in the community. We aim to heal people who have walked through broken dreams, broken relationships, broken health, and give them a place to find hope and purpose. If we reach out to the hurting, the disadvantaged, the underserved, the overlooked, that’s more in the sweet spot on God’s heart. We have a really passionate outreach to the homeless, and we’re partnering with four inner-city schools, providing mentoring, tutoring, after-school care and encouragement. In the summer, we take kids … to places they’ve never been, ending up at various universities for a sit-down with administrators. My goal is to honor God, his truth and his creation. I’m not trying to push any buttons and create controversy. I really want to bring harmony.

 

 

 

 

 

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Parody Of The Modern Church Service

Posted in Apostasy, Assembly of God in Apostasy, Discerning the Times, Humanism, Post-Modernism, Religious Babylon on May 31, 2014| 2 Comments »

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How About that Noah Movie?

Posted in abominations, Another christ, Apostasy, Assembly of God in Apostasy, Discerning the Times, Discernment, Emerging Church, False Christians, False Prophets, False Teachers, Humanism, Post-Modernism, prophetic, Religious Babylon, Rick Warren on March 29, 2014| 2 Comments »

Humanist ideology looks at the story of Noah as just another cultural myth story, on a par with ALL other cultural myth stories from ALL other “religions” or belief systems.

They lump all of them together as attempts by each culture to impart some common “wisdom” in their own individual cultural context.

This is why it is so horrible that a supposed preacher of the Gospel would encourage members of their “flock” to go see the movie and even worse promote such an abomination!

As that is what this movie is, an abomination that is not even accurate to the original story, and the makers of the movie do not believe that they have to be accurate, as they are humanists as well, and they have the right to retell the story in their own contrived context to create a NEW myth story that fits in with their own goals!

from TruthKeepers:

I watched a portion of a church service in Birmingham, Alabama where the pastor declared that he was excited about the Noah movie and encouraged people to go see it. That church was promoting the movie with large background of the movie poster behind the stage and a series of teachings on the story of Noah. Although there are few leading professing Christians lending their support to it, I believe that Christians will still flock to see it. A precedent was set with the Christian promotion of the Son of God movie. There is no moral authority left for discouraging professing Christians from watching the Noah movie. But some people are wondering where are all the reviews and warnings from people like me about the Noah movie. After all, a lot of time and effort was spent on trying to warn Christians about the New Age Son of God movie. I will tell you why I haven’t spent as much time on the Noah movie as I did on the Son of God movie.

My first reason is simply because it would be completely fruitless. Professing Christians that would go to the Son of God movie in spite of all the evidence that it portrayed a New Age Jesus will go to see the Noah movie. Nothing can now stop them from doing whatever their flesh dictates in regard to religious Hollywood movies.

Second, there is nothing to expose about the producer or his intent in making the movie. The movie Noah was produced by an atheist that bragged about the fact that he avoided following the biblical script. Therefore, his true colors and agenda do not have to be pried out of the data about his past.

Third, the previews from people that have read the script or watched the movie were all consistent that it was indeed not a biblical movie. Some the reviews that were released today stated that Christians who were sticklers for biblical accuracy (uh, that would be me) would be disappointed in the movie. So why should I spend the time and effort attempting to expose what is already clearly exposed?

Therefore, I confess that I have nothing to say about the Noah movie that has not already been said. But I do have a few questions for the professing Christians that supported the Son of God movie. For the ones who supported the Christless Son of God movie, I wonder if they are going to support the Godless Noah movie as well. If not, why not? It’s a given that Noah is not as important to the integrity of Gospel as the Christ Jesus. Oh, I get it. With the Son of God movie, they were willing to accept a percentage of error that included distortion of the true Son of God. But now they have their limits as to how much distortion of the truth they will tolerate in Noah’s story. There were those of us that were not willing to tolerate any distortion of God’s Son, our Lord and Savior. They mocked and chastised us for sticking to our limit.  To be fair, they should practice what they preached.  They should violate their standard as they demanded of us.

So I say to Matthew Hagee, Rick Warren, and the rest, go ahead and support the Noah movie. After all, why be judgmental, tale bearers, demonic, and let’s see, what else was it that they called us? Oh, I remember now; haters and resisters of God’s kingdom work. After all, why should they hate on the kindly atheist “doing God’s kingdom work” producing the Noah movie when they defended the New Age heretics that produced the Son of God movie?

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Addressing Concerns over the “SON OF GOD” Film

Posted in abominations, Another christ, Apostasy, Assembly of God in Apostasy, Catholicism, Discernment, Emerging Church, False Christians, False Teachers, Humanism, idolatry, Osteenism's, Post-Modernism, prophetic, Religious Babylon, Rick Warren, T.D. Jakes, Wolves on March 15, 2014| 2 Comments »

Those in the “Emerging Church”movement do not have or see a problem with playing “fast and loose” with the Word of God!  They tend to treat those who have reverence for the Word of God as legalistic and  refer to them as modern “Pharisee’s”

The problem with this is that the one’s who hold fast to the Word of God and have reverence for what it says do not do it so they can put a yoke around people’s necks to try and get others to do what they want irregardless of what the Word Of  God says!

This is what the original Scribes and Pharisee’s did. They abused the fact that the common man of their day could not read or understand what the Torah said! So they reinterpreted the Torah into a set of verbal and written traditions to fit their own political goals!

The ironic thing today, is that the ones who are the actual Pharisee’s of today are those in the “Emerging Church” who are twisting God’s Word to suit their own political goals! NOT the ones who hold to the Truth of God’s Word and have reverence for it!

If you read up on those who make Motion Pictures, they are not overly concerned about sticking to a strict interpretation of an original story, no they want to manipulate it to make it more exciting and fit the goal that they have, it is pure subjectivity on the part of the person who wrote the Movie and the one who directs it!

from Stand Up For The Truth:

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. ~Eph 5:11

Not surprisingly the movie “Son of God” has created quite a stir in the Christian community.  Before I gave the theater my money I read several reviews, blog posts, Facebook comments and viewed TV interviews of husband and wife team Mark Burnett and Roma Downey promoting their film.  Roma is a familiar face to many and is best-known for her role on the successful TV show “Touched by An Angel.”  Mark Burnett is the executive producer of a string of hit TV shows such as “Survivor,” “The Voice, “Celebrity Apprentice,” “Shark Tank,” and he has won several Emmys.

When I first heard that another full-length feature film about the life of Christ was coming to the silver screen, I was skeptical for several reasons.  First, Mark and Roma are Catholic and I was concerned that the movie would be produced from this perspective; a perspective that in many cases I disagree with.

Second, I learned that Roma earned a degree in “spiritual psychology” from the University of Santa Monica, a private graduate school founded by New Age spiritual and self-help quack John-Roger.   P.J. Miller is not being flippant when he asks:

What do you call someone who is a student of new age psychology and spiritualism? Do you call them new agers? Do you call them seekers? Would you dare call them Christian? Well, if you’re Roma Downey, then yes, you would call yourself all the above. (Source)

Third, a movie trailer shows Jesus asking Peter to follow Him. Peter looks skeptical and asks Jesus what they’re going to do.  Jesus grins and replies “Change the world.”  Well, no.  Jesus never said those words to Peter!  Here’s what Jesus actually said:

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. (Mat 4:18-20)

Jesus commanded  – Peter and Andrew dropped what they were doing to follow Him.  (More on this in a moment.)  Another clip shows a woman sitting in a boat on the Sea of Galilee with Jesus and the apostles during the storm where Jesus walks on water.  But according to Scripture there was no woman in the boat:

Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.  (Mat 14:22)   

In the movie Mary was the woman in the boat.  But why would they have a woman in the boat when Matthew informs us that the disciples/apostles got into the boat.  Mary wasn’t one of the twelve disciples/apostles – no woman was!

Finally, S. Michael Houdmann revealed in his review of the movie that, “the reason for Jesus’ death and the meaning of His resurrection are completely missing. The fact that Jesus’ death is the atoning sacrifice for sin is not mentioned at all (1 John 2:2).”

As I said, “Son of God” has elicited a great deal of controversy as did Mark and Roma’s “The Bible” miniseries produced by LightWorkers Media, a company owned by them. This “heretical and blasphemous” program aired on the History Channel last year. “We knew when we were shooting,” said Downey, “that the Jesus portion of our ‘Bible’ series was special and we shot much more footage and we’ve re-edited many more scenes into a stand-alone feature film called ‘Son of God.’”   I don’t have the space to tackle the “The Bible” brouhaha.  I will say, though, that several highly controversial pastors sat on the Board of Advisors. They include Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, T.D. Jakes, Richard Mouw and Samuel Rodriguez.  (For more on “The Bible” go to Resources below)

The Son of God?

“Son of God” opened on February 28, so by now a lot of folks have had the opportunity to view it in theatres and many more will have it streaming into their living rooms in a few months.  Naturally, reviews were quickly written, some good, some not so good.  (You’ll find links to the reviews at the end of this piece.) Suffice to say that in a short amount of time a lot has been said about the film.

Many of you won’t be surprised to learn that Mark and Roma asked Saddleback Church founder Rick Warren to help spread their version of the “good news.”   He happily agreed.  “I’ve seen most of the films produced about Jesus in the past 50 years,” said the pastor, “and ‘Son of God’ is the best.  We’re excited Jesus is back on the big screen, and we’re going to fill the theaters. I want every other faith leader in America to do the same.”

So – why would the man who is affectionately called “America’s Pastor” agree to promote a film that its critics describe as outright unbiblical?

Not only did Warren endorse the film, according to the Baptist Standard staff report :

Pastor and author Rick Warren partnered with LifeWay Christian Resources to release a Bible study related to the Son of God movie from 20th Century Fox, which hits theaters Feb. 28.

The small-group curriculum resource by Warren, Son of God: The Life of Jesus in You, is a companion piece to the movie produced by husband-and-wife team Mark Burnett and Roma Downey.

The six-session study features video clips from the movie and videos from Warren explaining Jesus’ teachings and their impact on people’s lives. Topics include baptism, temptation, suffering, death, resurrection and ministry. (Source)

As a Southern Baptist preacher, Rick Warren knows perfectly well that the Roman Catholic Church holds to the view that it is the one true Church.  Thus, any church outside the RCC is anathematized (excommunicated, cursed or damned). The Protestant Reformers held the view that the RCC’s gospel is not a gospel that saves; therefore the RCC is apostate.  Anyone who rejects the true gospel – we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone – is an unbeliever.  Period.  Warren also knows what the Bible teaches regarding believers going into partnerships with unbelievers:

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)

Here’s the thing.  Not everyone who professes the name of Christ has a true saving faith.  What about Mark Burnett and Roma Downey?  Do they have a true saving faith?  Let’s examine the fruit.

Endorsements

Popular pastor and author Mark Driscoll’s church bought out 3,500 seats.  In 2013 he and his wife shared a stage with Mark and Roma at Resurgence 13.  Driscoll later remarked:

We watched the world premier trailer for The Son of God at the conference, and the footage choked me up as I thought of the millions of people who will hear about Jesus through this project. I am so encouraged by God’s work through this couple. (Source) 

God’s work?

The connection between the Passover sacrifice (Exodus 12) and Jesus as the Lamb of God (John 1:29) is not made. The fact that Jesus’ resurrection proves His victory over death and sin and guarantees a resurrected eternal life for all who believe in Him (1 Corinthians 15) is nowhere to be found.  — S. Michael Houdmann

Another endorser of the film was “Social Justice Christian” Rev. Jim Wallis.  In my column Liberalism created the culture of evil and death, part 3 I wrote:

This man wears many hats.  He is the founder of Sojourner’s Magazine, speaker, author and activist.  He’s also President Obama’s “spiritual advisor.”  This alone speaks volumes.  Rev. Wallis insists that he’s an evangelical Christian even though he has abandoned the biblical gospel for the “social gospel.”  He believes he’s on a mission from God to assist the poor and oppressed to bring forth the Kingdom of God on earth. 

When this purveyor of the false social justice gospel was asked for advice by the couple, he gladly gave it to them:

What won me over to the whole series was the clip about Jesus meeting Peter, the fisherman. In a Washington, D.C., premiere of “The Bible” series a few weeks ago, I had wonderful conversations with Mark and Roma. Mark asked me if they were right to have Jesus say that he wanted to change the world. Those words are not literally in the scriptures, but it seemed to him and Roma that’s exactly what Jesus was talking about. Absolutely correct, I told them both. And we went through the first few chapters of Mathew which demonstrate that truth. I love the clarity and courage of the statement from Jesus in “The Bible.”

Sunny Shell disagrees:

Christ came into the world to save sinners from the righteous wrath of God, which is the just penalty for our sins. He never said He came to change the world. He said He came to transform people by giving them new hearts and new minds through repentance and faith in Christ alone. (Source)

The Examiner listed the names of churches and organizations that distributed tickets for a so-called “Theater Take-Over”:

Joel Osteen, pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Tex., who is distributing 8,000 tickets donated by an anonymous donor; Jerry Falwell, Jr., of Liberty University which has more than 12,000 students; Craig Groeschel of LifeChurch which has 18 campuses in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma; Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles with over four million members and Miles McPherson of the Rock Church with weekly attendance of more than 10,000 in San Diego, Calif. (Emphasis in original – source)

In an article that appeared on Fox News, Mark and Roma wrote:

In all our combined years in the entertainment industry, we’ve never seen anything like this kind of grass-roots support for a project. It is truly miraculous. 

So, too, is the unprecedented depth and breadth of those who have endorsed the film. Pastors like Rick, as well as scholars and faith organizations, have graciously supported our effort to share this story of our Savior – though they belong to different denominations, adhere to varying theological doctrine, worship God in their own unique ways.  

Bishop T.D. Jakes of The Potter’s House in Dallas said “the audience will be enthralled, encouraged and inspired.”  

S. Michael Houdmann was not enthralled by the movie.  In his review he writes:

The Son of God presents a Jewish Messiah who is crucified, dies, comes back to life, and commissions His followers to spread the word. But why did He have to die? What is the meaning of the resurrection? What is the message the apostles were supposed to proclaim, and why was it worth dying for? 

More from the Fox News article…

Joel Osteen of Lakewood Church in Houston called it “an epic work that touches the heart.” 

The Catholic Archbishop of Los Angeles Jose Gomez says it’s “a very important movie because it gives us the opportunity to realize God’s presence in our own lives.” (Source)

Certainly there are by now “Church leaders” that are sincerely shocked to find out that they endorsed a movie produced by New Age Catholics.  Here’s more proof from a 2010 article Roma Downey Happy Out of the Spotlight that shows she’s an advocate of New Age/New Thought spirituality:

Says Roma, who lives in Malibu, ‘My kids go to school about a 40-minute drive away. I’m open to the group’s opinion about what we listen to on the way there. On the way back, I get my own selections — books on tape by Eckhart Tolle, Tony Robbins…My husband says I’m so self-realized I’m practically levitating.’

For those who are unfamiliar with Eckhart Tolle, he’s a New Ager.  A few years ago Tolle paired up with Oprah Winfrey to do 10 online classes on XM Satellite radio on his blockbuster book “A New Earth: Are You Ready to Be Awakened.”  Oprah and Tolle took participants through his book chapter by chapter.  Regrettably, a large number of professing Christians took the class!

Human Potential guru and “coach for success” Anthony Robbins once said: “My definition of success is to live your life in a way that causes you to feel tons of pleasure and very little pain.”  Evidently no pain is experienced after completing a barefoot firewalk, a self-empower technique Robbins’ teaches to get an otherwise sane person to walk on a bed of burning hot coals during his “Unleash The Power Within” seminar.  On this video you’ll hear the sound of drums beating and the crowd chanting “YES! YES! YES!” as Robbins whips them into a frenzy in preparation for the firewalk.

More…

Roma appeared on “psychic medium” John Edward’s TV show and allegedly spoke to her deceased mother.  What does the Bible have to say about consulting a medium?

And he burned his son as an offering and used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. (2 Kings 21:6)

Well, it’s apparent that Roma, who says she loves the Bible, is unaware—or doesn’t care–that God says consulting a medium is evil.

Later she collaborated with Edwards by providing a CD to accompany a book he wrote:

Roma prays the entire rosary on the beautiful CD that comes along with this book. It’s quite lovely and gives you the special opportunity and a unique spiritual closeness to Roma to be able to pray right along with her as if she was right there at your side.” (Source)

So now you know a bit about two New Age gurus Roma Downey looks forward to listening to each day and an occultist she collaborated with.  The worldview of these men is as far from Christianity as the Earth is from Pluto.

P.J. Miller sat listening to Jim Bakker introduce Mark and Roma on Bakker’s TV show and recalled “their previous work on the History Channel’s The Bible and how they managed to literally re-write the Bible itself, and presented another gospel message altogether. I was captured by their … aggressive but subtle attempt to portray themselves as ‘believers’.  The sappy spiritual love fest that permeated on set showed me that something was indeed changing within Christianity, and that something was another Jesus being introduced to the masses.” 

Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. (Mat/ 24: 23-24) 

After several weeks of due diligence I’ve decided that “Son of God” is not a film I wish to see.  In addition to the concerns I have included in this article, my research has turned up many more  – way too many to incorporate here.  Most troubling is the astonishing lack of discernment shown by some of our so-called Christian leaders.  The Son of God I serve is best described in the Bible which is the inerrant, infallible, inspired Word of God.  Inspired means that God moved through the writers to convey to those who read it the words He wanted us to hear.  So to change the words that Christ spoke is prideful and wicked.

It’s unfortunate that those who are unfamiliar with the biblical Jesus and see this film will not come away with a clear understanding of His mission here on Earth.

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (1John 2:2) 

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Something is very seriously wrong with the “Son of God” movie!

Posted in abominations, Another christ, Anti-Christ, Apostasy, Assembly of God in Apostasy, cults, Days of Noah, Discerning the Times, Discernment, Emerging Church, False Christians, False Teachers, Humanism, idolatry, Paganism, Post-Modernism, prophetic, Religious Babylon, Signs of The Times, Synchretism, Wolves on March 4, 2014| 21 Comments »

An update from TruthKeepers: Is Roma Downey a New Age Adherent?

also see: The Menace of the Religious Movie by A.W. Tozer

I want to make clear that the article is not saying that Roma Downey and Lightworkers Media are officially associated with or part of lightworkers.org, which is based in Australia.

What the article is saying and which was made clear at TruthKeepers is that Roma Downey shares some of the same New Age beliefs as are espoused on the lightworkers.org website.

Roma mixes a great deal of new age beliefs (“Leaven”) with the pseudo Biblical messages in the lightworkers media productions.

Roma was also on the cover of OM Times, I would encourage everyone to read up on what OM times magazine publishes and what the general beliefs are of those that the magazine includes in its publication

I would also encourage everyone to read up on what the “OM” in the magazines title means.

If you also want to find out more of what Roma Downey believes you can read her interview here at the online edition of OM Times pages 24-29.

“She is a recent graduate from the The University of Santa Monica with a Masters in Spiritual Psychology” Page 27 of  the magazine and interview

reblogged from a Facebook post by Truthkeepers:


sonThe image on the left is Sananda. He is frequently channeled by new agers and he is a real spirit. He is the Jesus that the Lightworkers are promoting.

The production company that made the “Son of God” movie is called Lightworkers Media. If you pray to receive the Lightworkers’ Jesus at the end of “Son of God,” this is the guy who will answer your prayer.

The link below is to just one chapter in “The New Scriptures,” written by him through one of many mediums who channel him. As you can see, he adds to scripture, promotes the love of Self (with a capital S) before the love of God or others, and derides “all the major religions.” He says, “It is time to put an end to the self-loathing and despair which has been taught by all the major religions in some form.” This is what he will lead you to believe if you accept him into your heart.

He says, “There is no vengeance, no punishment nor any threat of disapproval or any other dark judgment in God’s Love. This is the mythology of the past, and it is a misunderstanding of what God feels toward his/her children.” He strips God of His holiness and even attempts to prime us for goddess worship.

He states, “I AM Love because I am God, just as you are.” Never mind what Jesus said in John 8:23. “And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.”

He urges us to use our own “God” power. “All can manifest the Dream of their Hearts if they only have Faith in their own power.”

He teaches reincarnation, “This is what you have lived and died for in many past lifetimes, Dear Ones,” using references from the Bible. “You are indeed at the threshold of the Promised Land.”

He then reveals, clearly, his teaching that you are God. “It is in turn fueled by the Love of your Higher Self, God.” (This is a teaching directly from satan. Isaiah 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.)

I channeled Sananda when I was a Lightworker. And he was one of the spirits who tried to torture me after I renounced occultism and turned to Jesus.

This is the Jesus Lightworkers believe in. And this is the Jesus they want YOU to believe in. You can be sure that a movie about Jesus is going to contain subtle depictions of Sananda.

Sananda is not Jesus. He is a demon. And the movie, “Son of God” was produced by people who serve that demon.

Here is the text that the above quotes came from

One website that features this exact picture of Sananda

Here is the production company that made the movie “Son of God.”

Here is Roma Downey’s Facebook page, listing Lightworkers Media as her production company

Also, if you check my comments below this picture you will see that I am not the only ex-occultist turned Christian who remembers this picture of Sananda.

Can God use a movie like this to spread the gospel? Of course He can. He can use psychics too. He used me to encourage my clients to read the Bible before I closed my business and gave my life to Him.

But this doesn’t mean we should start promoting psychics or that I should go back into business. Matthew 7:18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

The enemy is defeated by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimonies. Not by movies made by people who hate Christianity.

Roma Downey on OM Times magazine

The purpose and mission of Lightworkers:

Roma Downey’s partnership with TV psychic Jonathan Edward

Roma and Della’s spiritual beliefs

Notes by Pennie De Witt, former Lightworker and occultist of 26 years: My testimony

My interview with Jon Pounders on Day of the LORD Radio

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A Prophetic Warning

Posted in AOG, Apostasy, Assembly of God in Apostasy, Babylon, Christian Living, Days of Noah, Discerning the Times, Discernment, Doctrine of Balaam, Emerging Church, False Christians, False Prophets, False Teachers, Humanism, idolatry, Mammon, Mega Churches, Perplexity, Persecuted Church, Post-Modernism, prophetic, Prosperity Gospel, Religious Babylon, Signs of The Times, Wolves on March 4, 2014| 5 Comments »

“I believe we are nearing the time of persecution in our nation. When the only public voices for Christianity are apostate religious church leaders and organizations, I believe that the net of persecution will then fall on the American Church very swiftly. The true Church is being scattered—slowly and systematically. Right now I do not know of one medium or even small Church of true believers that is standing against the current apostasy. I also do not know of any highly visible professing Christian that is doing so.”

from TruthKeepers:

A Prophetic Warning to the Church (March 4, 2003 1:56 pm)

In my opinion every true follower of Jesus Christ needs to be completely aware of the time that we are living in. If we are not in the last-days, then it is a trial run that is so close that the dangers are nearly identical. Therefore, we need to take heed of the many warnings in God’s Word concerning the great time of deception.

First, we need to recognize how powerful that the deception will be. It will be so powerful that the only means of surviving it will be the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
(Mat 24:24 NKJV) “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

Satan will pull out all the stops, hold back nothing, pour out everything in his bag of dirty tricks, and the spiritual atmosphere will be too strong for people who have not spiritually prepared themselves to resist it.
(2 Th 2:9-12 NKJV) The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, {10} and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. {11} And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, {12} that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

The spiritual atmosphere will be diametrically opposed to the atmosphere of a great revival. During times of great revival even lost people feel the effects of the renewal of passion for God. During great revivals, sin is driven back into the darkness. Evil workers are exposed for the charlatans that they are. False doctrine is denounced. Prayer meetings and church services take precedence over secular activities. Even the laws of the nation are reflective of the revival.

Today, there are deep doldrums in Christianity. Liars and other phonies are honored while at the same time people who speak the truth are dishonored and persecuted. Homosexuals are ordained as Christian ministers and professing Christians are accepting their ministry. There is little passion for God or His Word manifested publicly. Sodomites not only are pouring out of the darkness to stand proudly in public view, but they have infected our government, public education, and almost every other area of society. False doctrines pour from pulpits, out of religious television, lining the bookshelves of religious bookstores, and inundate the entire religious realm. Practically no one will attend a prayer meeting. Even a school event can replace a church meeting. Our nation’s laws are becoming increasingly reflective of the satanic activity in our government.

I personally know pastors who have given up trying to pastor in this atmosphere. I know other pastors who appear to be just barely hanging on. Many professing Christians are simply flowing with the degradation of the great apostasy; marching to the cadence of Satan. Other Christians are feeling the overwhelming effects of it all. They cannot find an honest assembly of true followers of Christ. Every day they fight feelings of discouragement and depression. The joy of the Lord is very difficult to express and they battle daily with feelings of hopelessness, emptiness, and isolation.

This is the time that we have been warned about. We should understand that every godly act and characteristic is going to be more difficult to perform and maintain. Prayer is a battle. Temptation to loosen ones grip on eternal life is constant and pressing. Urges to relax and roll with the flow, follow the herd, do what everyone else is doing, never ceases the attempt to infiltrate our spirits. Evil workers of unrighteousness appear as workers of righteousness. In fact, it is difficult in some cases to tell the difference on the surface. They appear as ministers and people of righteousness. One should remember to listen to the Holy Spirit warning signals in their spirit. Consider their fruit. What have they ever done for Christ? Ignore how they make you feel or their flattering words and comforting ways. Reject the sensationalism of lying signs and wonders. Remember that few people are driven to hell. Most of them are led there by deceptive spirits.
(2 Cor 11:12-15 NKJV) But what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast. {13} For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. {14} And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. {15} Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.

God’s Word declares that the one act that will doom people to deception and delusion is rejecting love for the truth. The very thing that could save those who are deceived is the thing that they reject. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. If He is in us, we will not be deceived. We can walk through barrenness and never thirst or hunger. We will be filled with righteousness. We can master the deceptive time and rise above the clouds of evil lying signs and wonders.

When people reject love for the truth, the Holy Spirit will depart. They will be left to their own devices to defend themselves against the great deception of the last-days. God will not permit them to be shocked into returning to the truth. If they will not receive His love, His Word, His Son, and His Spirit, they do not deserve heaven. Neither do they deserve to be driven into heaven by specter of fearful calamities. Instead, they will be sent a strong delusion so that they will believe the lie and be damned.

In times past, when catastrophic events occurred, people flocked to church services in fear for their souls. Oklahoma City churches reported huge increases in attendance after the Murrah building was bombed. In a few months, the attendance was back to normal. Evidently, those people went back to their old ways of living under the cloud of deception. The very striking fact about the aftermath of 9-11-01 was that many people did not look to Christian leaders for comfort and answers. Instead, they flocked to events where an evil ecumenical mixture of wizards, witches, and other evil workers of darkness joined with professing Christians to pray for the nation. We saw no increase in attendance in our Fellowship.

This may indicate that the great delusion has been delivered to the earth and the package may be opened. If so, people who stand in the shadows, who are trying to live on the fringes of true Christianity, who play on both sides of the fence, who fail to develop passion and intimacy with God, are in deep, serious, trouble. We were warned by God’s Word and His prophets that this time would come. In my opinion, it is here. I encourage everyone not to settle for a casual relationship with God. Don’t settle for a passionless, nonchalant, church meeting where you are not inspired or challenged to stay fresh in your relationship with God. Don’t let your guard down. The hour is late and the time is short. Stand your ground and keep your armor on.

It is going to get very difficult in the last of the last-days, but the most dangerous time is during this initial wave of deception. The reason is because we have gotten used to the blessings of Christianity in a democratic nation. We can get in our vehicles on Sunday morning and there are many church buildings within a short drive from our homes. Someone else preaches to us, teaches us, and does almost every other thing for us. All we have to do is show up. What kind of Christians has this type of “Churchanity” produced? I do not mean to be offensive here, but for the sake of clarity I must be blunt with my answer. In most cases it has produced people that cannot take care of themselves spiritually. Instead, they depend on the three-per-week (or less) church services to keep them spiritual and inspired, and most of them only attend occasionally. They are weak, pampered, religious at the best, and at the worst they are lost, malformed and mutated by years of lack of growth and a viable experience with God. As such, they are no threat to the kingdom of darkness and no benefit to the kingdom of light.

Now, we are going to have to adapt steadfastness of faith to the harshness of the time that we are in. Christians should have been building themselves spiritually during the times of peace. If we had been actually assimilating and applying the Word of God that we have been inundated with, then we would have more than been prepared for this evil time.

We’ve been taught to be weak, to live weak, to need church meetings to a degree that God never intended. Certainly we find strength in fellowship and it is a tremendous blessing to hear the Word of God taught or preached by someone who is anointed. But if we have not developed the practice of feeding ourselves, what are we going to do in the tough times? Paralyzed people and babies have to be fed, but healthy and mature people feed themselves.

Men need to become and remain strong in the Lord and begin taking responsibility for their spiritual duties. The time is coming when men will have to teach their own families. We need to get tough, knowledgeable, and spiritually strong. All of us need to become prayer intercessors. I believe that it is time to consider what is eating up our time and make some serious choices about our activities. If it comes to the point that we cannot find a church building to meet in where God is present and people are sincere, then the only option is to meet in our homes. However, there were times when the Church was even denied that privilege. They had to meet in catacombs and other places that do not even remotely resemble a church building.

I believe we are nearing the time of persecution in our nation. When the only public voices for Christianity are apostate religious church leaders and organizations, I believe that the net of persecution will then fall on the American Church very swiftly. The true Church is being scattered—slowly and systematically. Right now I do not know of one medium or even small Church of true believers that is standing against the current apostasy. I also do not know of any highly visible professing Christian that is doing so.

I could say a lot more, but let me conclude with one more point. The key to understanding that this current apostasy is not going to be resisted by most professing Christians is in the way most of them perceive Christianity. The only way that so many hirelings could be in pastorates is if most of the people want it to be this way. I heard one of the deadest sermons I have ever heard one Sunday morning while visiting a church meeting. A toxic religious mixture oozed from the pulpit and entered the hearts of people who loved to be poisoned so. The sad thing about that church is that it is growing steadily in number. I thought the man might be sick, but I was informed that he was in good health. In other words, he preached that way on purpose. This is the standard for most church meetings today. It does not resemble biblical Christianity. What it is I cannot tell. What it is not is a meeting of true Christians who are aware of the time and striving for intimacy with God. May God help us to understand what is happening!
The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule by their own power; And My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end? (Jer 5:31 NKJV)

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The Dividing Line

Posted in AOG, Apostasy, Assembly of God in Apostasy, Discerning the Times, Discernment, Emerging Church, Humanism, Post-Modernism, prophetic on March 3, 2014| 2 Comments »

from Truth Keepers:

There has been enough said and written about the “Son of God” movie to convince people who are willing to listen to truth. The ones who believe it is a good movie will not change their minds. People that cannot recognize the issues with the movie before they watch it will probably not detect anything wrong about it after they watch it. Nothing I can add will make a difference either way. God does not force people to follow Him, and neither can we force them to accept the truth. The dividing line has been drawn.

The most disconcerting factor in the situation is the unwillingness of people to even consider the facts and God’s word. Instead of saying, “Well I didn’t know that, please tell me more”, they go on the attack. I’m used to being called names, accused of being everything from a heretic to demoniac, but not to the extent that I received during the past few days. The synopsis of most responses minus the diatribes is, “I don’t care what you say, I don’t want to hear it, I like the movie” ala Matthew Hagee. I can’t argue with that.

It appears that everyone that has spent the past decade ignoring the warnings are incapable of hearing them now. I don’t know all the reasons they chose that path. For some it was bad soteriology and for others bad eschatology. Some professing Christians have become so enamored by the world system that they have no taste for things spiritual. The Apostle Paul wrote concerning endtimes professing Christians:

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

Finally, there is this word from David Wilkerson.

I keep this foremost in my mind and before my eyes, because every minister of the gospel one day has to face it when he stands before the Lord. He will say, “Son of man, I made thee a watchman. You were to hear the words of My mouth and give them warnings from Me. You were to tell the wicked, ‘Thou shalt surely die.’ And you gave them no warning nor spoke to warn the wicked to turn from their wicked ways to save their lives. These same wicked men died in their sins, but their blood I’ll require at your hands.”

The rest of the message can be found at the following link. True Discernment

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Prophecy Mongering

Posted in Apostasy, Assembly of God in Apostasy, Discernment, Eschatology, Humanism, Perplexity, Post-Modernism, prophetic, Prosperity Gospel, Signs of The Times on July 13, 2013| 1 Comment »

from Herescope:

Profiting from the Promulgation of End-Time CRI$I$ Scenarios 

Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. (Jeremiah 10:2)

The evangelical world has been feasting on a constant diet of crisis for several decades now. Despite the relative peace and prosperity that Americans currently enjoy, fear is being marketed in every outlet. Fear of the future. It is big money for evangelical professional marketeers, many of whom act like false prophets continually prophesying doom and destruction. In fact, so much so, that many Christians now seem addicted to the adrenalin rush that comes via these dire predictions of disaster. It is a Pavlovian thing – spout the CRISIS, and fear-laden followers will respond by pushing the button to buy pre-packaged SOLUTIONS! This phenomena can best be described as prophecy-mongering, a term that has connotations of profiteering from promoting endtime crises.

Crisis-mongering is not a new thing. Chicken Little in the children’s folk tale went around crying, “The sky is falling!” This message has now become “a common idiom indicating a hysterical or mistaken belief that disaster is imminent.”[1]  Despite the moral of the Chicken Little story, dire predictions are becoming a way of life for many evangelicals. The more exotic, the more titillating, the more dramatic – the more people will get all worked up. It isn’t just fear. Many of these catastrophic endtime scenarios are also extremely evocative, even licentious. It is tough to remain sober-minded when constantly assaulted by horrifying and/or Hollywoodized images[2]  of the future. But being sober is exactly what a believer is supposed to do in these last days – “the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer” (1 Peter 4:7).[3]

Christian Right groups eagerly engage in their cries of “Woe is America!” on a daily basis and, quite frankly, each new dreadful episode of our country in crisis creates an opportunity to raise more support for their particular issue.[4]  Evangelicals love solutions that impose some new housecleaning campaign for America. It is easier to point out the sins of America than deal with the sins within the Church (Matthew 7:3). The solution to America’s crises is inevitably some type of Dominionism – trying to “save” our nation, transform the culture, and gain power and ascendancy over others in the process. But notice it is not by the transformation of the inner man as a result of receiving the Gospel of Salvation. In fact, many evangelical leaders believe that they can invent the future, envision the future, and actually change the future! Some even wanted to develop “alternative future scenarios” because they didn’t like what Bible prophecy really has to say.[5]

Create the Crisis, Propose the Pre-determined Solution  Professionally trained change agents have learned how to create crises and then propose a pre-planned solution. Ironically, some evangelical leaders have warned believers about these very tactics, particularly because it has been a common modus operandi of the political Left for a long time. Creating the crisis is done by things such as fomenting discord, agitating about issues, harping continually on what’s wrong, and even going so far as to create the actual problem. Often this is done via the media, which is a “partner” or “stakeholder” in the issue that is being drummed up. Once people accept that there is a problem/crisis, then the change agents come in with their pre-fabricated solution. This solution is usually onerous and intrusive, and in the political realm it usually means more government oversight and control with less personal freedom.

So, given the fact that many evangelicals already know about this clever and deceptive strategy – create the crisis, propose the solution – why are so many so gullible to crisis-mongering when it comes to believing horrific prophecy scenarios? The answer is two-fold. First, evangelicals all want to trust their “experts” – those leaders who appear in the public eye and state things authoritatively. But many trusted leaders are engaging in this very crisis-solution strategy! They claim to have elite information, intelligence secrets, hidden knowledge, scientific-sounding secrets, or even the ability to be able to decode supernatural things. Some are deemed to have such superior spiritual insights that they are called modern-day prophets![6]  If these leaders were outsiders, or strangers to the evangelical world, wouldn’t skeptical questions be raised about their extravagant claims? People might request tangible proof, biblical documentation, and solid evidence before they believed their purported crisis. But because these prophecy-mongers are “in house,” hyped and marketed by other trusted leaders, they are assumed to hold superior information about whatever crisis they are promulgating. Even known cynics, critics who understand the whole crisis-solution manipulation strategy, don’t seem to raise an eyebrow when someone uses the same strategy wrapped up in endtime crisis guise.

Second, evangelicals are susceptible to prophecy-mongering because disaster is indeed imminent! We don’t know the day nor the hour (Matt. 24:36), but Jesus is going to return and before that happens Scripture states that things will wax worse and worse (2 Tim. 3:13). Believers are told to “discern the signs of the times” (Matt. 16:3). There are plenty of “wars and rumours of wars” (Mark 13:7) and many other things to indicate that the time is getting close. In fact, potential disasters are a dime a dozen. Every day brings hundreds of new catastrophic scenarios that loom on the horizon. The Christian Right gets all worked up about the environmental crisis advocates’ claims of global warming, but they have their own calamitous commotions. Should Christians get all revved up about these things – even before they happen, IF they are going to happen? Jesus’s answer to this was very short and sweet: “see that ye be not troubled.” Why? Because “for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet” (Matt. 24:6).

One of the more troubling aspects of prophecy-mongering is that those who are creating the crises are proposing solutions for the future. First of all, without engaging in a lot of semantic twisting and decoding of penumbras,[7]  these inventive crises can’t be found anywhere in Scripture. But, worse, their solutions can’t be found in Scripture either. Their solutions often have to do with conducting spiritual warfare. Even real warfare.[8]  Some have twisted and distorted biblical eschatology into an endtime crisis that requires that the church defeat its enemies, subdue the earth, and restore paradise conditions.[9]  They teach that Jesus can’t come back until all of these other dreadful and scary extrabiblical things happen first – based on their own stories they made up, or extrapolated from occult sources. Question: since when is Satan a reliable expert about the endtimes? John 8:44 says that the devil is a liar and “there is no truth in him.” Yet these prophecy mongers rely heavily upon Satan’s literature, and his dark imagery and falsehoods heavily pervade their crisis scenarios.[10]

What are the signs that believers should be watching for? They are listed specifically in the Bible. In fact, before one jumps on signs, there are explicit warnings to not get carried away. Jesus warned that there would be false men claiming to be “Christ” and “false prophets” who would have the ability to “shew great signs and wonders” to such a great extent, that “if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:24). In other words, signs can be treacherous and deceptive. So much so that Jesus warned that desiring signs showed a sign of lack of faith (John 4:48) and the Apostle Paul warned believers to beware because Satan can cause signs in order to deceive: “Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders” (2 Thess. 2:9, 6-12).

At the very end there will be never-before-seen signs in the physical heavens, and a pronounced rise in terrifying things that happen on earth (earthquakes, famines, pestilences), both which Jesus treats in a matter-of-fact manner in Luke 21. They’re going to happen. Scary? Yes! Should we react in fear? No! Our reaction should be joy! “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:28).

What should be the response of believers to all of this crisis-mongering? Christians don’t need to be scouring ancient pagan myths, borrowing from the occult or studying the Kabbalah. They don’t need to be overcome by fearful conspiracy theories, stories of government cover-ups, or exotic tales of science fiction-like monsters invading the planet. Jesus specifically states that He has told His children all they need to know about the endtimes in one very profound and brief statement: “Behold, I have told you before” (Matthew 24:25).

That’s it! “I have told you before!” Jesus has told us everything we need to know about the last days ahead of time in His Word. Period. End of crisis! We need no longer be “tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” (Eph. 4:14). If everyone stood on this verse the prophecy-mongers would go out of business!

Perhaps if Christians weren’t so gullible about prophecy-mongering, those racketeering and profiteering from crisis prophecy schemes would suffer an economic shortfall and have to close up shop. But endtime crisis prophecy is very alluring. It puts vivid images in the head, and tells wild tales with elaborate and complicated storylines.[11]  Like a good fiction series, always developing new twists in the plot to make readers want to read the next chapter, endtime crisis hooks the avid reader/listener. What’s next? What can happen worse?[12]  Notice how many times it requires paying money to find out what’s next. Prophecy mongering isn’t for free. The whole point of keeping captive audiences is so that they’ll buy the next new installment in the thrilling chilling story![13]

The Real Crisis and the Real Solution

  • QUESTION: what is the WORST CRISIS facing humanity?
  • ANSWER: The lost, the unsaved who will go to Hell if they don’t hear the SOLUTION of the Gospel message of Salvation and accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour.

Christian – If this CRISIS with its truthful SOLUTION is not your primary FOCUS in life, then you need to search plain Scripture and re-discover the simplicity of the Gospel.

A good believer is one who seeks to obey Jesus Christ and His Word. A sincere Christian must stop and ask if all this prophecy-mongering is edifying – or terrifying. Is the storyline about Jesus Christ? Is HE the main character? Or is it full of dark tales about demonic things? Is the Bible becoming all mixed up in your mind and blurred with wild tales of creepy creatures and nightmarish monsters? What is all of this imagination and future-forecasting doing to your thought life? Are you focused on praying for the lost and leading the unsaved to the Lord? Or are you hungering for the latest tidbit of pending calamity? Is all of this endtime hype leading you away from your first love (Rev. 2:4) and simple devotion to Jesus Christ Who died on the cross for your salvation? Are you living your life in holiness and purity? Or are you wandering after sensations and stimulations?

The Apostle Paul concludes his lengthy discussion about the endtimes in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 by exhorting believers to stand fast, to have hope, to be comforted, and to be established in the Word and holy living. This does not sound like people overcome by catastrophic crises and waves of fear. It sounds like the sober-minded believer who is looking forward to that “blessed hope” of Jesus’s soon return (Titus 2:13).

Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God, even our Father, Which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, Comfort your hearts, and establish you in every good word and work. (2 Thess 2:15-17)

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