Deceivers

T. D. Jakes grew up in a Oneness Pentecostal denomination which denies the essential Christian doctrine of the Trinity [The Oneness Pentecostal denomination was declared a heresy by the Assemblies of God when it took organizational form in 1917]. When asked by Christian leaders to clarify if he believes in the Trinity [As defined in the Athanasian Creed] he will not clear up this matter. He refuses to give a clear answer as to what he means by "manifestations" when referring to the Trinity.

Jakes lives with wife Serita and their five children in a Dallas mansion, complete with an indoor swimming pool and bowling alley...And while some accuse Jakes of being driven by the dollar and not the divine - his transportation stable consists of a Mercedes-Benz, a Bentley, a BMW, a Lexus and a jet...Indeed, during MegaFest's kickoff, Jakes mentioned his sponsors more than he mentioned God. During the worship service, dozens of Potter's House ushers sprinted throughout the Georgia Dome, collecting purple duffel bags full of money and checks made out to T.D. Jakes Enterprises...The pastor says his income comes from his media enterprises, not from church tithes. And he dismisses such questions as having racist overtones.
(Building an empire to empower, T.D. Jakes may lead a Dallas mega-church, but that's not all he does. By Annette John-Hall, Inquirer Staff Writer, Philadelphia Inquirer posted August 22, 2005)

The Jakeses and their five children live in a 9,689-square-foot mansion on White Rock Lake, appraised at more than $3.3 million. He loves to shop and wears exquisitely tailored suits and expensive shoes. He owns a jet. "Anybody who has sold 8 million books shouldn't have to justify why they live in a nice house," Bishop Jakes said.
(T. D. Jakes, Fort Wayne.Com, "Preacher extends his reach with film, but some fault posh lifestyle")

Note: That may be true for an unbeliever, but what about for a man of the cloth living in a multi-million dollar house? Dr. J. Vernon McGee has well said, "Whenever you find a minister who is rich, watch out. Folk are not supposed to get rich in the ministry," Commentary on 2 Corinthians 6:8-10, page 117.

"I drive a: Lexus and Bentley"
(T. D. Jakes, Fort Wayne.Com, "Preacher extends his reach with film, but some fault posh lifestyle")

Note: On the Bentley Motors website here is a sample of prices for used Bentleys (Model year then price): 1) 2003--$185,000 2) 2005--$175,000 3) 2000--$159,000 4) 2002-- $279,000 5) 2004--$239,000.

“I think that Jesus is the product,” says author and televangelist T.D. Jakes, who is currently bishop at The Potters House, a primarily African-American Pentecostal church in Dallas. “When the product is excellent, it doesn't require a big sales pitch.”
(MSNBC News, "Do God and money mix?" March 31, 2005)

Note: Jesus is a product? Jesus is Lord of lords and Kings of kings--the creator of all things. Jesus is not a 'product' nor should He be compared to one.

“Scripture teaches that receiving Christ as your personal Savior does not necessarily make you a son of God, but if you choose to do so, the power (authority) and right to do so is present. ... Just being saved does not make you a son of God, ...only those who are willing to be led by the Spirit actually realize and manifest the sonship of God.”
(T.D. Jakes, "The Harvest," pg. 46-47. PFO Quarterly Journal Article)

"The one and only prophetess Juanita Bynum will be with us tonight...We're blessed because of you. We're blessed because of your ministry. We're blessed because God has raised up that voice...We thank God for this woman of God...Give God praise for prophetess Juanita Bynum...She has Revelation Knowledge from the Lord."
(T. D. Jakes, "TBN," July 6, 2004. Describing false prophet Juanita Bynum to the world)

He refers to immoral, lustful and sinful thinking as merely “little boy thoughts.”
(T.D. Jakes, "Loose That Man and Let Him Go," pg. 5. PFO Quarterly Journal Article)

Jakes refers to an adulterous man as a “frightened little boy” and a wife beater as a “terrified little boy.”
(Jakes, "Loose That Man," pg. 123-124. PFO Quarterly Journal Article)

He states that, "because the teachers in Jesus’ day listened to Him as a child it boosted His self-esteem."
(Jakes, "Loose That Man," pg. 3. PFO Quarterly Journal Article)

Jakes mentions that he purchased (for all the men in his organization) subscriptions to the secular GQ Magazine to help them learn about manhood.
(Jakes, "Loose That Man," pg. 42. PFO Quarterly Journal Article)

"...Timely and riveting..."
(T. D. Jakes, Endorsing Paul Crouch's Book, "Shadow of the Apocalypse.")

Note: Paul Crouch's new book on prophecy (The Shadow of the Apocalypse) is filled with bible codes.

He appeared at Mega Fest 2004 with; Creflo Dollar, Juanita Bynum, Joyce Meyer, Bishop Eddie Long, and Paula White.

T.D Jakes played this clip of Creflo Dollar on his show on May 24, 2004. He called Creflo one of "God's finest." Creflo teaches that Christians are gods. He also says that Christians are not sinners and that Jesus did not come as God or perfect. He also teaches that it is blasphemy if you don't believe that Christians are gods.

Note: Creflo Dollar mocks people that humbly bow their head in reverence and mourn over their sins in view of God's absolute holiness. Jesus himself commends people that mourn over their sins in their prayers (See Luke 18:9-14).

HAT TIP: Forgotten Word Ministries

T.D. Jakes is a Sabellian/Modalist Heretic

It seems that some of my recent posts exposing the truth about T.D. Jakes have struck a nerve with one Dr. Pamela Y. O'Guinn. By her own report, and in violation of scripture, Dr. O'Guinn is a self-proclaimed "pastor/minister" and is clearly someone who blindly follows - and gladly prostrates herself before - the deceitful wolf in sheep's clothing T.D. Jakes. In the midst of her confession of blind adoration and perverse man-worship of "The Bishop" the deranged doctor even goes so far in her fevered high-noon fantasies as to compare Jakes with Christ Himself, replete with crucifixion imagery no less! I must say that I've rarely seen such a shameless display of spiritual harlotry in all of my days.

Obviously little more needs to be said to conclusively demonstrate that this sad, deceived, and unrepentantly sinful woman has long since parted ways with the orthodox Christian faith and embraced pagan idolatry in the form of the golden calf - or perhaps more accurately the "goose that lays the golden eggs" - worship of word-faith mogul and Trinity denying modalist heretic T.D. Jakes.

To be quite honest I'm more than a bit surprised that Dr. O'Guinn has seemingly managed to avoid the copious documentation about Jakes' manifold errors prior to stumbling upon the truth at my simple and humble blog since literally legions of Christ's truth soldiers before me have cataloged Jakes' unorthodox, aberrant, and outright heretical teachings. Therefore as a service to Christ and His church I've decided to compile a brief list of links to make it as easy as possible - even for those like Dr. O'Guinn who would suppress the truth in unrighteousness and prefer a lie over the truth - to have an opportunity to read the facts about T.D. Jakes for themselves.

Living in the aftermath of the great evangelical disaster - Pyromaniacs

Spiritual Pathways Ministries T.D. Jakes archive

T.D. Jakes is Number One of The Top Fifty Most Influential Christians of 2005 - Steve Camp

T.D. Jakes - False Preacher/Teacher - Forgotten Word Ministries

T.D. Jakes is a Spiritual Coward - Apprising Ministries

Keeping You Apprised Of: T.D. Jakes On the Trinity - Apprising Ministries

The Trinity Refused or Confused - Let Us Reason

Oneness Pentecostals - Department of Christian Defense

Striking a Nerve

It would seem my short piece entitled Heretics of a Feather struck a nerve with one of the followers of word-faith espousing, Oneness Pentecostal, Trinity denying, false teacher T.D. Jakes. As is often the case the truth seemed to hit a little too close to home for Dr. Pamela Y. O'Guinn.

In response to my article I received the following comment from the aforementioned self-proclaimed adherent of Jakes' false gospel:

It is evident in your blatant attack of every Christian Pastor that you could think of signifies that you yourself have a dislike of anything that is Holy! Or maybe have some strange vendetta to exact against some of God's great leaders.

People have no relationship with God or always apt to believe that everyone else is corrupt when it's actually some area of lack in their lives. Yes, unfortunately there are some people who use the Church and their pulpits to mislead and steal money from believers, but that isn't the case with every Pastor. There are many true men and women of God trying to incorporate positive changes into a "Sin sick " society.

I'm a Minister/Pastor of the Potter's House in Dallas where Bishop T.D. Jakes is the Sr. Pastor as well as God's Tabernacle of Praise in Keller, Texas and I can tell you that the type of person you describe doesn't come close to describing Bishop Jakes. I too have encountered those types of Pastor's and believe me I recognize them a mile away and I steer clear of them always.

Sometimes we are overly critical of things, and people that we have no actual knowledge of or no nothing about. Maybe, we should have take a little bit more time to investigate or learn about who and what it is that we speak about before we open our mouths and embarrass ourselves. So I ask you this; What personal experience have you had with any of the individuals that you have spoken so disrespectfully about?

Because from the tone of your little article I would say that with a friend like you the Satan sure is spewing nonsense about some of Gods' chosen vessels to try and steer people astray!

Dr. Pamela O'Guinn | 10.13.07 - 4:31 pm | #

I suppose it's only fair that I respond point by point to the typically false accusations which emanate so frequently from members of the false professing church who "professing themselves to be wise, (they) became fools." (Romans 1:22).

Firstly I don't attack every Christian pastor that I can think of, rather in submission to the revealed Word of God I am exposing and reproving the works of darkness as commanded in Ephesians 5:11. Let it be clearly stated and known to all that T.D. Jakes cannot simultaneously be a true Christian and deny the Trinity, nor can anyone else for that matter. This is an absurd impossibility which even the most spiritually immature Bible believing Christian should be able to discern. T.D. Jakes denies the Trinity and thus is an unbeliever. This remains a sad fact no matter how much one's flesh might appreciate his oratory or admire the works of his so-called "ministry". With this in mind it should be crystal clear that not only am I not "attacking every Christian pastor that I can think of" in my article, in reality I'm not attacking any Christian pastors whatsoever since none of the names I mentioned could possibly be true Christian pastors based upon their own well publicized, clearly articulated, aberrant, and heretical beliefs (not to mention that, like the commenter, some of these same self-proclaimed "pastors" are women, and women are Biblically disqualified from becoming pastors).

In her second misguided paragraph the good Dr. plays a game of ad hominem and then finds herself on the horns of the logical fallacy known as begging the question by insinuating that I'm corrupt in my reasoning due to a lack of relationship with God. Interestingly enough, no evidence or examples to support this straw man argument are presented, rather it's just a blanket assertion which does nothing but prove the good Dr. failed to pay attention in her rhetoric classes since she apparently misses the amusing fact that her blind and clumsy assertion whirls back upon her own head like a spiritual boomerang. Surely she should be able to see that her false accusation against me is equally applicable to herself? No? Hmmm...maybe that's why she's attached herself to a false teacher who tickles her itching ears? Just an observation.

Not contented with merely one absurdly illogical and baseless broadside our brave yet misguided commenter presses onward. After identifying herself as a "Pastor / Minister" - which as previously noted is an office no woman is Biblically qualified to hold - the good Dr. dives directly into a diatribe about people being "overly critical of things and people that we have no actual knowledge of or no *sic* nothing about. Now this is rich so please allow me to break this one down for you in just case you missed it: almost unbelievably after a direct frontal assault on my Christian character and inferring that I don't have a relationship with the Almighty, the good Dr. begins to upbraid those who are critical of things of which they lack knowledge! The hubris and lack of introspection on display here is simply breathtaking. To be quite honest I'm not sure I've ever seen such a ham-handed effort condensed into only four paragraphs. And to think that before now I sometimes found myself wondering who is supporting and financing all these false teachers?!? I guess now I have my answer, it's people like Dr. Pamela Y. O'Guinn.

I have some friendly advice for you Dr. O'Guinn, never respond when you're angry. Anger tends to cloud our ability to think and communicate clearly, therefore when we respond in anger we often find ourselves eating crow. And on a related note, sinful pride is a dangerous thing.

A fool's wrath is presently known: but a prudent man covereth shame. (Proverbs 12:16)

In her closing volley the good Dr. completely parts ways with reality by issuing a steady stream of snide derisions which are intended to ridicule, dismiss and cloud the fact that T.D. Jakes is a Oneness Pentecostal heretic. Strangely the good Dr. actually attempts to frame me as one of Satan's little helpers who is determined to "steer people astray"! This may be the most bizarre and nonsensical portion of her entire screeching screed since she is in effect stating that those who point out that T.D. Jakes is a Trinity denying heretic - which is an indisputable fact - are somehow guilty of "spewing nonsense". Is it really nonsense to warn people who are being deceived by an unbeliever who masks himself as a Christian pastor? Does it result in the advancement or the detriment of God's Kingdom when people are told the truth? Which benefits more from sounding the warning about false teachers within the professing church, the kingdom of heaven or the pit of hell? Ponder it.

It's clear from revealed scripture that there will be many false teachers who seduce many followers in the last days by the preaching of another gospel. The gospel of health, wealth and temporal blessing proclaimed by the word-faith, positive-confession heretics is precisely such a gospel. These are they who follow Christ because of what they believe He can do for their bellies and wallets; they chase after the lusts of their flesh and drizzle a little Jesus on top to keep up with appearances. These have turned the gospel upside down and made heaven out to be a paradise with arms wide open, ready to receive the multitudes while hell is a place that - if they even speak of it - is nearly impossible to stumble into.

For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD. (Jeremiah 23:11)

For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. (Mark 13:22)

Yet the true gospel message is one of death to self, complete abandonment of the cares of this world and a taking up of the cross daily to follow after our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The cross of Christ is a cruel instrument of death. It's covered in blood and gore and represents the death of self and life unto Him.

Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? (John 6:60)

From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. (John 6:66)

A true Christian is willing, even eager, to give up his temporal pleasures, his family, even his own life if required by His Lord in order to gain that Pearl of Great Price, the kingdom of heaven which is entered through Christ alone. This is the true gospel of Jesus Christ, and there be few who - by the unmerited grace of God alone - find it.

Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matthew 7:14)

And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Matthew 7:23)

Exposing Error: Oneness Pentecostalism

Oneness Pentecostals: They deny the Trinity, require baptism for salvation, are legalistic, and do not preach the true gospel.

The above sounds like a strong statement and a serious charge that's been leveled against the Oneness Pentecostal cult, yet it is the unvarnished truth. As some of my limited readership may recall I posted a brief series on the antics of Oneness Pentecostal heretic T.D. Jakes during October '07, however that series didn't provide as much detail on the manifold errors of the Oneness Pentecostal cult as it focused on the arch-deceiver Jakes himself.

In this brief post I'll provide a brief list of Oneness Pentecostalism's manifold doctrinal errors, and for more detailed information the reader can click the link at the beginning of this post and review CARM's excellent resources on the cult.

Here are few Oneness Pentecostal cult beliefs for those who may be unaware of some of the specifics of their false religion of works righteousness:

1. Denies the doctrine of the Trinity.
2. Denies justification by faith alone by stating that baptism is also required for salvation.
3. Jesus is God the Father.
4. Jesus is the Holy Spirit.
5. The name of God is “Jesus.”
6. Baptism is necessary for salvation.
7. Denies pre-existence of the Word as the Son. Teaches that the He existed as the Father.
8. Being born again means repentance, baptism, and speaking in tongues.
9. Baptism must be administered by an ordained Oneness minister to be valid.
10. Baptism must be administered with the phrase, “In the name of Jesus” instead of the phrase, “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19).
11. Speaking in tongues is a necessary requirement to demonstrate that a person has been baptized in the Holy Spirit, and is, therefore, saved. It is claimed to be the initial sign of the infilling of the Holy Ghost.
12. Restitution of all things, though the devil and the angels will not be restored.
13. Women may be pastors.
14. Only Oneness people will go to heaven.

As any fair minded, intellectually honest person can see the traits above are, as I’ve pointed out before, representative of classic cult mind control.

Just like the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormons who are the Oneness Pentecostal’s spiritual kissing cousins these blind leaders of the blind, these wolves in sheep’s clothing, these rank deceivers believe that ONLY THEY will go to heaven because ONLY THEY are “doing things according to the Bible” as taught by THEIR cult leaders.

But notice that “doing things according to the Bible” includes all manner of religious bondage and fleshly works of men in order to be valid.

So according to the Oneness Pentecostal cult (and the JW’s and the Mormons) if you have not met THEIR PARTICULAR CULT’S requirements for salvation then you’re going to go to hell. I wonder which of these three cults is really telling the truth? If you guessed none of them then you are correct!

But don’t their claims sound familiar? They really should since false religion is among Satan’s oldest traps and cults of Christianity are clearly his favorites.

The Jesus Christ of the Holy Bible is able to fully save all those who come to Him by faith through grace alone, but the Jesus Christ of Oneness Pentecostalism is unable to fully save apart from certain ordinances being performed by ordained Oneness Pentecostal ministers. As is commonplace among the cults they use these ordinances as a form of religious bondage in order to control their confused flocks and keep them in line by using fear tactics.

The Jesus Christ of the Holy Bible Himself claimed to have come from the Father and claimed He would return to the Father, but the Jesus Christ of the Oneness Pentecostals is the Father.

The Jesus Christ of the Holy Bible prayed fervently to His Father in the garden of Gethsemane desiring that the cup might pass from Him, and prayed that not His (Jesus Christ’s) will be done, but His Father’s will be done (“nevertheless not My will, but Thy will be done”). Since according to the Oneness cultists Christ IS THE FATHER then the Lord was actually praying “not My will, but My will be done”. The conflict evident herein is irreconcilable and absurd on its face. In this touching and agonizing scene the Son was praying to His Father in Heaven pure and simple.

Sadly Oneness Pentecostals flatly reject the truth that Jesus existed as the Son of God from all eternity. Since Jesus is God this means, according to Oneness Pentecostal doctrine, prior to His incarnation Jesus must have existed as the Father or as an idea in the Father’s mind. Yet there are numerous scriptures that clearly teach that Jesus has always existed WITH (not as) God the Father prior to His earthly incarnation. (John 1:1 & 10-14). An idea can’t be the Creator so we’re left with One Who came to His own world and was rejected by it, now did the Father come to the world or did Jesus Christ - the Son - come to the world? What do the scriptures and Christ Himself teach on this point?

We also have John the Baptist testifying to Jesus Christ’s real pre-existence in John 1:15,31 as well as the Lord Himself making reference to the same thing noting how He will ascend up to the Father where He was “before” (6:62). The Lord also testifies numerous times how he has COME FORTH FROM THE FATHER and is GOING BACK TO THE FATHER. We should also consider 1 Corinthians 8:6, Hebrews 1:2-10, and Colossians 1:16-17 which speak expressly of Jesus as the Son of God creating the world.

The truth is that the New Testament itself teaches over and over that Jesus is the Son of God and Son of man, but He is NEVER ONCE called the Father. In fact the Father is referred to as distinct from Jesus over 200 times in the NT and over 50 times Jesus the Son and the Father are juxtaposed in the same verse

Friends, the Oneness Cultists need the same loving but firm rebuke as the JW’s and Mormons in order that some might be saved from the judgment to come. They’ve believed another gospel and have invented another Jesus and they seek after converts in order to make them twice the sons of hell that they are themselves.

In contradistinction to the error of the Oneness Pentecostal (and Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormon cults) the Holy Bible plainly teaches the FACT of a Triune individual being that is commonly known as the One True Living God of Christian theism. Consider the following study adapted from "Reformation Theology":

The Triunity of God - The Basis for the Ontological Trinity
The dividing line between true Christianity and all other world religions is the Trinitarian conception of God. No religion that denies the doctrine of one God eternally existing in three persons can rightfully claim to be Christian. Islam believes in one eternal God, the God who revealed himself to Abraham; but because it denies that this one God exists in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, it is no more Christian than Hinduism. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe in one God who, they claim, is the God of the Bible. But they reject that Jesus Christ is an eternal person of the Godhead, and therefore, they are no more Christian than the Greek pagans. The doctrine of the Trinity cannot be denied without Christianity itself being rejected. Here is a good, simple explanation of the trinity, formulated by Athanasius, a man of God who opposed the heretical Arian teaching, which denied that Jesus is truly God:

We worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity, neither blending their persons nor dividing their essence. For the person of the Father is a distinct person, the person of the Son is another, and that of the Holy Spirit still another. But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one, their glory equal, their majesty coeternal. What quality the Father has, the Son has, and the Holy Spirit has. The Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God. Yet there are not three gods; there is but one God.

This is the historic, orthodox teaching on the trinity. A careful examination of it will eliminate many possible misunderstands of its nature, such as these:

* We worship three gods
* Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three different names for God
* Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three different parts of God
* God shows up at different times as either Father, Son, or Holy Spirit
* Jesus is a lesser god than the Father or a created god
* Jesus is fully God, but he was not fully man
* The Holy Spirit is an impersonal force from God

Following are some scripture passages which support the Biblical belief in an individual, singular, personal Creator God of a Triune nature:

There is one God
Deu 6:4; 1Ki 8:60; Isa 42:8; John 17:3; 1Cor 8:4; Gal 3:20; 1Tim 2:5; Jam 2:19

The Father is God
Rom 1:7; Rom 15:6; 1Cor 1:3; Eph 4:6; 1Cor 8:6; 1Pet 1:3

The Son is God
Isa 7:14; Isa 9:6-7; John 1:1-3; John 8:58-59; John 20:28; Acts 20:28; Rom 9:5; Rom 10:9-13; Phi 2:9-11; Col 1:15-16; Col 2:9; Tit 2:13; Heb 1:3; Heb 1:8; 2Pet 1:1; 1John 5:20

The Holy Spirit is God
Acts 5:3-4; 2Cor 3:16-18

The Father is one with the Son
John 10:30; John 17:22

The Holy Spirit is one with the Father and the Son
1Cor 2:11; Rom 8:9

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are viewed as equally God, yet personally distinct
Mat 3:16-17; Mat 28:19; Eph 1:3-14; Eph 4:4-6; 2Cor 13:14; Jude 1:20-21

May we who are called by His holy name pray for those who are in bondage to the various cults of Christianity that the Lord of Glory, the Risen Savior, our Kinsman Redeemer and Eternal God, the Lord Jesus Christ might save them from their sin and trespass and translate them from spiritual death unto life by His Spirit of boundless mercy, pity, and love. Amen!

Exposing Error: Tommy Tenney

"Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar" (Proverbs 30:5–6)

I found this detailed and focused indictment of the heresy of Tommy Tenney over at Personal Freedom Outreach.

According to Personal Freedom Outreach's bio, Tommy Tenney is one of the darlings of TBN (The Blasphemy Network), is a charismatic speaker and is the author of several books, including The God Chasers, The God Catchers, God's Dream Team, God's Favorite House and others. Appearances at the Brownsville Revival and on the cover of Charisma magazine have added to his exposure and he has become a very marketable commodity. Because of his success, Tenney has hired 15 people to assist him and receives up to 500 invitations a month to speak.

Sadly there is overwhelming evidence that Mr. Tenney's false theology hails from the desolate, barren spiritual wasteland of modern American evangelicalism wherein men are blown about by every wind of doctrine. He is the corrupted spiritual peer of apostate word-faith heretics such as Joel Osteen, Benny Hinn, T.D. Jakes and their ilk.

May the Lord of Hosts open the eyes of the deceived masses who follow after these blind leaders of the blind! May our Shepherd call His sheep out from among the goats who are being led astray and led to the slaughter by these wolves in sheep's clothing! Amen.

All Aboard the Purpose Driven Bandwagon!

The devil driven apostasy of Rick Warren certainly has all the trappings of a cult of personality "bandwagon" movement, and I for one am convinced that those who yoke themselves to the man-centered theology of "Pastor Rick" as opposed to the Word of God will someday lift up their eyes from hell where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Witnessing the furtive, frantic spiritual adultery of the apostate professing church as it runs from wordly experience to experience sampling the pleasures and delicacies of the hell spawned man-centered false gospel that passes itself off as "Christianity" today makes me want to vomit. While playing the harlot she claims she's only trying to be "relevant to today's culture" and be rid of the stodgy old stereotypes of "traditional Christianity". God forbid that man should attempt to "reinvent" or "reimagine" the unchanging and unchangable Word of God! Such hubris! Such sinful pride! This is exactly the line of reasoning the enemy used in the garden when he appealed to man's autonomy inquiring "Yea, hath God said?" That old serpent, the devil, knows full well what makes sinful man tick; he knows the allure of worldly power, prestige and the praise of men is simply irresistable to the unregenerate, including - perhaps especially! - those wolves in sheep's clothing who pretend to be pastors, teachers and shepherds of God's flock.

The situation reminds me of "The Haywain", a painting by the 15th century Dutch master Hieronymus Bosch. The painting, in three panels, depicts a group of greedy people desperately trying to grasp a loaded hay wagon in the center panel.

In the panel on the right, just out of their sight, are demons pulling the wagon straight into hell. In their shortsighted avarice the people trying to grab the hay don't see the hellish future they're rolling into.

These blind leaders of the blind, (Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, Rob Bell, T.D. Jakes, Creflo Dollar, Kenneth Copeland, Joyce Meyer, - to name a few) are heretical apostates who are leading countless thousands (millions?) of souls to hell with their feel-good, self-help, prosperity-doctrine and their unbiblical Nerf theology.

These spiritual hucksters wouldn't dare risk offending any of the sensitive "seekers" to whom they gleefully prostitute themselves by preaching the whole counsel of God including sin, the need for repentance, and the eternal torments of hellfire. "Why", they say, "it might drive them away"! Well we wouldn't want that now, would we? Since the unregenerate followers of these cultic movements are going to hell anyway I'm not sure precisely where they're so afraid of driving them away to! Maybe they're afraid of losing their precious "tithes and offerings" to a different collection plate? If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it's a duck.

May those of us who, by God's grace, are able to see the sure and terrible end of those who follow after the vain traditions of men sound the alarm and warn these blind followers of the blind of the wrath to come! May we point to the certainty of the judgment and the horrors of hell that surely await them lest they humble themselves before the One True Living God, repent of their sinful ways, and be regenerated by the Spirit of God Almighty by trusting in the finished and all-sufficient work of the cross! May the Lamb of God who was slain before the foundations of the world be our one and only hope, and may his infallible, inerrant and inspired Word be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path! Amen.

Mormonism's Attempt to Co-Opt Biblical Christianity

There's been much buzz recently about the efforts of the LDS to "mainstream" their cult beneath the ever widening canopy of evangelical Christianity. While there are certainly numerous arguments in favor of allowing the Biblically unorthodox and heretical Mormon cult to become mainstreamed within the broader professing church, there just aren't any good arguments.

The closest I can come to a reasonable argument for allowing the Mormons - and JW's for that matter - into the professing church is to simply point at the myriad of false teachers, rank heretics, outright apostates, and brazen blasphemers that currently operate seemingly with impunity and immunity within the visible church. Consider the warm reception given by professing Christians to shameful spiritual harlots such as T.D. Jakes, Joel Osteen, Kenneth Copeland, Juanita Bynum, Creflo Dollar, Paula White, Benny Hinn, Doug Pagitt, John Hagee, Paul Crouch, Erwin McManus, Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, Billy Graham, Robert Schuller, Brian McLaren, ad exhaustem, ad nauseum. When I read the manifold errors and hear the demonic lies from the pit of hell that are espoused almost daily by this pack of spiritual wolves in sheep's clothing I'm forced to take note that even the Christian cults are only slightly less orthodox than these supposedly "Christian leaders". But unlike the current breed of "homegrown heretics" who have sprung up within the hothouse of the lukewarm Laodician church, at least the nominal professing Christian knows enough - or used to know enough - to beware of the Mormons and JW's!

Yet the truth remains that the goal of the true church of Christ isn't to continually lower our theological and doctrinal standards in order to fit as many people inside as possible - in fact quite the opposite is true. And with this in mind the aforementioned professing Christian "leaders" ought to be soundly and roundly rebuked for their errors and be required to either repent and change their ungodly ways or be cast from the fellowship of believers.

But I digress.

Back to the matter at hand I came across an excellent piece by Phil Johnson over at Pyromaniacs which succinctly lays out the major and irreconcilable differences between true Biblical Christianity and the cult of Mormonism.

In his post Phil points out the following foundational truths where Christians and Mormons arrive at a theological impasse:

1 The issue of authority. Christians believe the Bible is God's authoritative, inerrant, unchanging and complete self-revelation (Jude 3). Scripture is the touchstone to which all other truth-claims must be brought (Isaiah 8:20). The sole and sufficient authority by which all controversies in spiritual matters are to be determined is none other than God's Spirit speaking through Scripture. By contrast, Mormons consider The Book of Mormon, The Pearl of Great Price, and Doctrine and Covenants as additional authoritative revelation, thereby undermining the true authority of Scripture and violating the principle of Revelation 22:18.

2. The doctrine of God. Christians believe there is one God who eternally exists in three co-equal Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Mormons reject the doctrine of the Trinity, believing that there are many worlds controlled by different gods.

3. The supremacy of Christ. Christians believe Jesus Christ is pre-existent God who became a man in His incarnation while maintaining His full deity. Mormons claim Jesus was a "spirit child" of Mary and Elohim (and the brother of Lucifer) who has now been elevated to the level of deity.

4. The means of justification. Christians believe justification is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Mormons believe a person's works in this life will determine his or her status in the life to come, and that "salvation" is actually a progression toward godhood.

Let it be known that both Christianity and Mormonism cannot be true! One is the truth of God and one is a damnable lie. I encourage you to read Phil's post in its entirety here.

Heretics of a Feather...

...flock together.

Just for kicks and giggles I conducted a simple Google search for "Paula White" to see which related searches would appear on the world's most powerful search engine, and guess what I discovered?

If you guessed "More heretics than you can shake a stick at" then you're correct! Go ahead and try it for yourself and see what you get when you search for the deceiving, divorcing, "pastrix" Paula White.

I'm confident you'll see the same sad parade of word faith shilling, pulpit pimping, positive confession teaching, false prophesying, Oneness Pentecostal Trinity denying, bottom feeding, doctrines of demon espousing posers that I saw.

Names like: T.D. Jakes, Joyce Meyer, Juanita Bynum, Benny Hinn, Eddie Long, Creflo Dollar, Darlene Bishop, and of course their den of thieves sanctuary, TBN (The Blasphemy Network).

With friends like those the gospel doesn't need enemies.

Prosperity Doctrine

Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.(1 Timothy 6:5-11)

Let me make this perfectly clear, the so-called "Prosperity Doctrine" which is espoused and favored by Word-Faith heretics such as Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, T.D. Jakes, Paul Crouch, Creflo A. Dollar, and Joel Osteen - to name but a few - is a lie straight from the pit of hell. When God’s people pursue money more than godliness they focus on the temporal instead of on the eternal.

The Lord Jesus Christ taught us that "where our treasure is, there will our heart be also". Friend, if you're trusting in the riches of this world then you've built your house on shifting sand. Trust in the Lord and seek after His righteousness and you'll never be disappointed in your eternal reward.

Revelations and Vain Imaginings

I suppose that perhaps no man is above vain imaginings now and again, and as such I've decided to share one of my dearest with the tiny readership of this humble blog.

Oh, that I could have the singularly delicious enjoyment of seeing with my own eyes and hearing with my own ears Charles Haddon Spurgeon laying this Spiritual Smackdown on the likes of Benny Hinn, Paul Crouch, Jesse Duplantis, Erwin McManus, Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, Brian McLaren, Doug Pagitt, Creflo Dollar, T.D. Jakes, Juanita Bynum, Paula White, Joel Osteen, and the myriad other false prophets of the modern day lukewarm Laodiciean false professing church!

I have no doubt that the delicate, effeminate, men-in-skirts spiritual sissies of the ecumenical emergent/seeker sensitive/purpose driven/word faith movements would fall all over themselves in a fit of self-righteous anguish to hear someone speaking such rough words to them! Oh, how surely would they develop a mass case of "the vapors" and need to lie down on their fainting couches in order to catch their collective breath before they indignantly began to engage in their little man-centered pity parties!

"That Charles Spurgeon is so mean!" they would howl! "He's a watch-doggie and he idolizes the Bible!" they would squeal! And those would be the articulate responses that somehow managed to avoid the gratuitous use of four letter obscenities and calls for his summary execution.

I now encourage you to read the Spurgeon excerpt below while imagining that the "Prince of Preachers" is speaking directly to the emergent/seeker sensitive/purpose driven/word faith apostate of your choosing!

Spurgeon, "THE PARACLETE" No. 1074. John 14:16
Take care never to impute the vain imaginings of your fancy to the Holy Spirit. I have seen the Spirit of God shamefully dishonored by people -- I hope they were insane -- who have said that they have had this and that revealed to them.

There has not for some years passed over my head a single week in which I have not been pestered with the 'revelations' of hypocrites or maniacs. Semi-lunatics are very fond of coming with messages from the Lord to me, and it may save them some trouble if I tell them once for all that I will have none of their stupid messages. When my Lord and Master has any message to me he knows where I am, and he will send it to me direct, and not by madmen.

Never dream that events are revealed to you by heaven, or you may come to be like those idiots who dare impute their blatant follies to the Holy Spirit. If you feel your tongue itch to talk nonsense, trace it to the devil, not to the Spirit of God.

Whatever is to be revealed by the Spirit to any of us is in the word of God already -- he adds nothing to the Bible, and never will. Let persons who have revelations of this, that, and the other, go to bed and wakeup in their senses. I only wish they would follow the advice, and no longer insult the Holy Spirit by laying their nonsense at his door.

Monkey-god

For decades here in the United States our secular society has been busily - and not so quietly - turning self-esteem into the neo-pagan god of the modern Western worldview.

What is at the root of this madness? It should be patently obvious to anyone with even a rudimentary grasp of our human nature as revealed in the Bible that the last thing rebellious, foolish, children need is for their natural predilection for self-centeredness and pure unadulterated selfishness to be fed and reinforced by authority figures. The concept is absurd on its face!

Yet with this in mind it ought to be unsurprising that we should find that the wholesale rejection of Biblical principles and anti-Christian hostility which pervade today's secular institutions of "learning" - so called - have resulted in a populace that utterly loathes authority. This of course poses a bit of a problem for them since God Almighty is the Absolute Ultimate Authority. Plainly this is the reason why the foolish and deceived secular humanists reserve their most passionate and venomous hatred for Him.

Seemingly one of the unintended consequences - at least for professing Christian families, though I imagine this was part of the secularist's master plan all along - of the failed experiment of the secular public education system in America is the fact that it has resulted in literally generations of children hailing from professing Christian families departing from the faith.

Given the aforementioned conditions should we really be surprised when we find that the church is full of self-centered, selfish, man-centered, fleshy, earthy, What's In It For Me style carnal "Christians"? After all, if the broader culture is populated by these folks could there have been any doubt that they would infiltrate the church at every level? Furthermore should we be surprised that those same false believers would heap unto themselves false teachers to tickle their itching ears and tell them what they want to hear? I think not.

Read the following sugary sweet, man-centered, "Gawd has a wunnerful plah-yun fer yer life" drivel from the heretical Smilin' Joel Osteen and pay particular notice to how it's tailor made and focus group tested and proven to tickle the ears of his massively deceived followers:

“God’s plan for each of our lives is that we continually rise to new levels. But how high we go in life, and how much of God’s favor and blessings we experience, will be directly related to how well we follow His directions.” God “is waiting for your obedience so He can release more of His favor and blessings in your life…My question to you is: How high do you want to rise? Do you want to continue to increase? Do you want to see more of God’s blessings and favor? If so, the higher we go, the more disciplined we must be; the quicker we must obey.” “You don’t get the grace unless you step out. You have to make the first move. God will see that step of faith and He’ll give you supernatural strength to help you overcome any obstacles standing in the way of doing the right thing…Remember: How high you go in life will be directly related to how obedient you are.”

Can you see the works-righteousness of Osteen's non-gospel of nothingness? Can you see how it's carefully crafted to appeal to his listener's innate, refined, and highly cultivated sense of self worth?

Where's the denial to self?

Where's the lofty view of God?

Where's the Bible?

In truth Joel Osteen's message - his entire worldview - boils down to a profane, blasphemous, perverse game of cosmic "Monkey see, monkey do".

"Monkey-god see monkey follow his directions, monkey-god give good thing."

"Monkey-god see monkey obey, monkey-god release blessing."

"Monkey-god see monkey step out, monkey-god show favor"

"Monkey-god see monkey made first move, monkey-god help"

"Monkey see he control monkey-god by actions, monkey think he is god"

"Good monkey, reward monkey! Bad monkey, no reward monkey!"

Broadly speaking this is the pathetic level to which Christian thought and theology have degenerated as a whole within huge swaths of evangelicalism. Doctrinally speaking the modern church has become a mile wide and an inch deep. In fact today's breed of emergent/purpose driven/seeker sensitive/word faith professing Christians would have been counted as the vilest heretics breathing had they lived in earlier times. Our modern crop of shameless charlatans and pulpit pimps would have been roundly and soundly rebuked and cast from among the fellowship of Christian believers had they expounded their shameful false doctrines and damnable heresies then as they do now.

Can you imagine the response of the Puritans to profane practice of positive confession which is espoused by the likes of Trinity denying, word faith mogul T.D. Jakes?

How might the Apostle Paul have reacted to the sinless, cheerful, self-esteem messages of man-centeredness spewed forth by the likes of Schuller, Warren, and Osteen?

What do you think the apostles - all of whom were Jewish - would have said in response to John Hagee had he began teaching his dual covenant theology from synagogue to synagogue and proclaiming that Jesus was not the Messiah?

How quickly do you imagine Brian McLaren and Doug Pagitt would have been anathematized by the early church had they claimed the universal salvation of every human being regardless of their position relative to Christ?

Friends, the God of the Holy Bible isn't a cosmic divine monkey who exists primarily to play with you and cheer you up when you're feeling lonely or downcast. The God of the Holy Bible isn't impotently dreaming dreams that He wants to come true on earth, but is unable to bring to pass because of the unbelief of sinful men. Nor is the God of the Holy Bible a distant mechanistic legalist who waits for men to say the right words in the right sequence, or to properly "exercise their faith", or "sow a seed" so he can "pour out blessings" upon them. Those who hold to these types of false teachings will certainly reap a harvest, but the bitter harvest they reap will be the winds of hell.

Let it be known that the God of the Holy Bible is still in the business of seeking and saving sinful men by His good pleasure, and for His glory alone; and not for any good thing He sees that is, or will be, within them.

He is the potter and we are the clay.

He is worthy and we unworthy.

He is true and we are false.

He is fully sovereign and we are utterly hopeless apart from Him.

Let every thing that has breath praise the Lord!

John Hagee's Strange Fire

San Antonio mega church pastor John C. Hagee is a well known evangelical leader, but it's what you may not know about John Hagee that might surprise you. For example:

Did you know that John Hagee flatly refuses to preach the gospel to Jews and is on record stating as much?

His warped theology is known as dual covenant theology and is a satanic lie. As Dr. David Reagan well said this false doctrine "is one of the most convoluted forms of anti-Semitism because it is willing, in the name of love, to allow millions of Jews to go to hell".

The Houston Chronicle reported:

“John Hagee, fundamentalist pastor from San Antonio and friend of Israel, is truly a strange fish. ... The man has a mission. He’s out to attack anti-Semitism. He also believes that Jews can come to God without going through Jesus Christ.”

The Houston newspaper then quoted Hagee’s own shocking words: “I’m not trying to convert the Jewish people to the Christian faith.”

And further revealed:

"In fact, trying to convert Jews is a ‘waste of time,’ he said. ‘The Jewish person who has his roots in Judaism is not going to convert to Christianity. There is no form of Christian evangelism that has failed so miserably as evangelizing the Jewish people. They (already) have a faith structure.’ Everyone else, whether Buddhist or Baha’i, needs to believe in Jesus, he says. But not Jews. Jews already have a covenant with God that has never been replaced by Christianity, he says."

Needless to say the inspired words of the Apostle Paul clearly refute John Hagee's perverse and demonic false doctrine.

Did you know John Hagee divorced the wife of his youth, an act which absolutely disqualifies him from continuing in the office of pastor?

Personal Freedom Outreach reports:

There are moral and ethical concerns with Hagee and a serious question as to his being biblically qualified as a pastor and teacher are not the main issues of this article. However, one very important factor should be noted. The Liberty Flame reported in May 1994 that during the time when Hagee was serving the Charismatic congregation at Trinity Church (1976) in San Antonio, he divorced his wife, resigned and married a young woman in the congregation, Diana Castro. Custody of Hagee’s two children by his ex-wife, Martha, went to her.

In a letter to the church, Hagee admitted immorality, which later became part of the court records in the custody battle. Martha later also remarried and started another family. Not surprisingly, there is a hiatus from 1976 to 1987 left out of Hagee’s web site biography.

The meaning of the phrase "husband of one wife" in 1 Timothy 3:2 ought to clear up any controversy of whether a pastor can be divorced or not. There is nothing mysterious about the Greek phrase used here which simply and literally means "one woman man."

Did you know John Hagee is a word-faith teaching, positive-confession espousing prosperity pimp?

John Hagee frequently makes heretical statements to the effect that when it comes to "giving" YOU determine what God can do based on your "gift". In effect his false doctrine turns the Almighty into a heavenly slot-machine who, if you hit the right combination, will spill out temporal fortunes which you can't contain. Pastor Hagee bases his heretical teachings from a few selected OT verses in Malachi and Psalms which have zero basis in, or relevance to the church. Friend, God is not a mechanistic impersonal divine slot-machine, He's a personal and loving Creator Who desires a relationship, not a temporal quid-pro-quo exchange of goods and services.

For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. (Hosea 6:6)

For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. (Psalm 50:10)

Did you know John Hagee allows unbelievers and apostates to preach from his pulpit?

John Hagee frequently allows unbelieving Jews to speak to his congregation from his pulpit during Sunday services. Imagine for a moment that instead of an unbelieving Jew Pastor Hagee invited an Islamic Mufti, or a Buddhist monk, or a Hindu priest, would that be okay? Or how about a good old fashioned Catholic liturgy from the pulpit at Cornerstone Church? After the service would Hagee's starry-eyed, brainwashed hangers-on gush over the adoration of the Eucharist and the beauty of the monstrance? Would they drive home joyously singing songs of praise to "Mary, Queen of Heaven"?

The unbelievers are bad enough, but one would hope that even the least discerning professing Christian could see the problem with having a non-Christian preaching from the pulpit of a supposedly Christian church! Nevertheless and never one to be outdone - even by himself - John Hagee parades a pantheon of apostates across his pulpit representing the entire abominable doctrinal spectrum of aberrant, heretical, and unorthodox beliefs. Kenneth Copeland, Rod Parsley, Jesse Duplantis, and Oneness Pentecostal heretic T.D. Jakes who denies the doctrine of the Trinity are all welcomed with open arms by the charlatan "Pastor" Hagee.

I've got to tell you, after what I've learned about this shameless spiritual snake-oil salesman thus far I'm half expecting at any moment for John Hagee to set up a gigantic metallic idol with outstretched arms on his stage, feed it with coals until it glows white hot, and then demand that his congregation to bring their newborn babies down front and place them into the fiery hands of his pagan god in order to obtain "the blessing".

John Hagee is a theological train wreck, a type of unholy Frankenstein's monster produced by the modern apostate professing church who is unfit to be called a pastor or a preacher. In point of fact he's a shameless spiritual prostitute of the lowest order and a disgusting parasite on the true Body of Christ; a biblical bottom-feeder who ought to be roundly and soundly rebuked by true Christians everywhere.